CEDH · CASELAW;CLIN;ENG — 12 janvier 1999

.s3ABFC313 { font-size:10pt } .sEB86A30B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; page-break-after:avoid } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA241FE93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:18pt; text-align:justify; page-break-after:avoid; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s8F2B0B1B { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12pt } .s9FF10068 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s5F48796F { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s5CB9E8AB { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; border-bottom:1pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .sDF790F1E { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 2 January 1999 Rigopoulos v. Spain (dec.) - 37388/97 Decision 12.1.1999 [Section IV] Article 5 Article 5-3 Brought promptly before judge or other officer First appearance before a judge 16 days after initial detention following an inspection of a vessel on the high seas: inadmissible   Acting on the orders of the Spanish courts, Spanish customs officers inspected, on the open Atlantic, a ship sailing under the Panamanian flag, as part of an investigation into international drug trafficking.   While searching the ship, the customs officers discovered a large quantity of cocaine on board.   Several crew members put up a certain amount of resistance to the Spanish authorities, thus delaying the ship’s escort to the nearest Spanish port in the Canary Islands.   The applicant, the ship’s captain, was first placed under police supervision. His detention on remand was ordered by the investigating judge 3 days later.   The time-limit under Spanish law for holding a person in police custody was thus complied with.   The decision ordering his detention on remand was served on him on his arrival in port, 16 days after the inspection of the ship. The same day he was transferred to Madrid and brought before the judicial authorities.   He lodged several unsuccessful appeals asking for annulment of the proceedings and his release, on the grounds that an excessive amount of time had elapsed before he was brought before the Spanish courts. Inadmissible under Article 5 § 3: The question of whether the requirement of being "promptly" brought before a judge, set forth in this article, has been met must first be considered in the light of the relevant domestic provisions.   The Audiencia Nacional and the Spanish Constitutional Court held that the applicant had been lawfully remanded in custody, in compliance with the relevant legislation.   A period of 16 days cannot, however, be considered to be compatible with the requirement of promptness; only exceptional circumstances could justify such a long period of time.   In the instant case, the inspection was carried out on the high seas, more than 5,500 km from the Spanish coast, and it took 16 days to reach the nearest Spanish port.   The applicant admits that the crew's resistance made it impossible to set course for the port until 43   hours later.   It was therefore technically impossible for the Spanish authorities to bring the applicant before the investigating judge within a shorter period of time:   manifestly ill-founded.   © Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court. Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes