access be given to […] lawyers”94 and that the use of prolonged detention without any access to a lawyer violates a number of provisions of the Covenant, including Article 7.95 181. Human rights bodies have thus recognized that, for access to a lawyer to constitute an effective protection against torture and ill-treatment, such access has to be “prompt” and regular.96 For example the Human Rights Committee has recommended “that no one is held for more than 48 hours without access to a lawyer”,97 whilst the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has clarified that “[l]egal provisions prescribing that a person shall be given access to a lawyer not later than 24 hours after he has been arrested usually function as an effective remedy against torture, provided compliance with such provisions is strictly monitored.”98 182. Further, the right is to have access to a lawyer of one‟s choice, as recognized for instance in the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.99 For the right to counsel to be meaningful it must also comprise the right to timely, effective and confidentially communicate with counsel. 94 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20 (above, n. 89), para. 11. 95 Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Israel, 21 August 2003, UN doc. CCPR/CO/78/ISR, para. 13. 96 See, e.g., Principle 17 of the UN Body of Principles): “A detained person shall be entitled to have the assistance of a legal counsel. He shall be informed of his right by the competent authority promptly after arrest and shall be provided with reasonable facilities for exercising it.” See also Principle 15 (excerpted in the Annex). 97 Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Israel (above, n. 95), para. 13. 98 “Question of the Human Rights of All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, in Particular: Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Report of the Special Rapporteur Mr. P. Kooijmans, pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1988/32”, UN doc. E/CN.4/1989/15, p. 50, para. 241. 99 Principle 1, Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 27 August - 7 September 1990, UN doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 (1990), p. 118. 54