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57.
Mr. GIL LAVEDRA thanked the members of the United Kingdom delegation for the quality of their replies. Like Ms. Chanet, he wished to receive a copy of section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act, in which he hoped to find an answer to the questions raised in his mind by paragraph 39 of the report concerning the application of article 5 of the Convention, which dealt with the territorial jurisdiction of States parties.
58. He too welcomed the plan to appoint an independent commissioner to monitor holding centres where interrogation was carried out. Provision should also be made for medical examinations in order to provide better protection against torture.
59. In his view, it was a matter of great concern that silence could be regarded as an accusation against an interrogated person, whose right "not to be compelled to testify against himself" was enshrined in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was always better to extend the discretionary power of the judge to evaluate evidence rather than interpret the silence of the accused. In some circumstances, drawing improper conclusions from silence more or less amounted to denying a suspect his right not to make a statement.
60. Nevertheless, he congratulated the United Kingdom authorities on the steps they had taken to ensure that the Convention was observed in full.
61.
Mr. BURNS (Country Rapporteur) said that, if the case of Northern Ireland was separated from the rest of the country, it could reasonably be said that the Government of the United Kingdom met in virtually every respect the obligations contained in the Convention. On the other hand, the implementation of the Convention in Northern Ireland was far from satisfactory. Although it was true that each year Parliament reviewed the need to maintain the emergency regime in Northern Ireland, it had been in effect for nearly 20 years and two generations of policemen had known no other.
62.
He had not been persuaded by the reasons given by the members of the United Kingdom delegation for the absence of video recordings. The fact that no suspect was entitled to have his solicitor present during interrogation was also a cause for great concern. The arguments put forward to justify the refusal of the right to silence were all the less acceptable because the suspect was deprived of the assistance of a solicitor. To all intents and purposes, the United Kingdom was deliberately setting aside one of the basic protections guaranteed throughout the civilized world. Even the extreme circumstances in Northern Ireland in no way justified such a denial of basic human rights.
63.
As country rapporteur for the United Kingdom, he had received a list, compiled by a solicitor, of 30 persons who had received compensation for ill-treatment over a two-year period. He would transmit the list to the United Kingdom delegation. The Government of the United Kingdom did not seem to be miserly about compensation for torture victims.