(b) upon reasonable suspicion of his or her having committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence under the laws of The Gambia, and who is not released, shall be brought without undue delay before a court and, in any event, within seventy-two hours. The Defendant argued that the arrest, detention and prosecution of the 2 nd, 3rd and 4th Applicants was on reasonable suspicion of the Applicants having committed an offence, in pursuance of and in accordance with the laws and legal principles of the Republic of the Gambia. In order to meet the requirement of lawfulness, detention must be “in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law”. This means that detention must conform to the substantive and procedural rules of national law or international law where appropriate. The concept of freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention dates back to the Magna Carta, Statutes of the Realm 6-7 (1810) wherein Article 39 of the provides: “No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or be disseized of his freedom, or liberties, or free customs or be outlawed or exiled or any otherwise destroyed, nor will we not pass upon him nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land” The UN Committee on the study of the Rights of everyone to be free from Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, and Exile defines Arrest as “The act of taking a person into custody under the authority of the law or by compulsion of another kind and includes 48