48 MEDVEDYEV AND OTHERS v. FRANCE JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINIONS example, from the moment the frigate Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff set out from Brest to intercept the Winner (which had been under observation by the American, Greek and Spanish authorities on suspicion of transporting illegal drugs, thus leading to a request by the Central Office for the Repression of Drug Trafficking (“the OCRTIS”) for authorisation to intercept), it was reasonably foreseeable that the services of a judicial officer would be required during the course or in the immediate follow-up to the planned interception. In such circumstances, some consideration might have been given to having a judge join the frigate in Brest, or even later in Spain, when the OCRTIS experts went on board. 9. Alternatively, some consideration might have been given to transporting the crew back to Brest on board a naval vessel. (We note that, having left Brest, it took the Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff only six days to reach the location of the Winner). Having regard to the state of repair of the intercepted vessel, it is surprising that the authorities decided to keep its crew on board when they must have known that, as a result, it would take a long time to bring them before a judge. Nor, indeed, would it appear that any thought was given to airlifting those deprived of their liberty to France. This option has been used by the French authorities in cases of piracy on the high seas and it might also have been considered in this one. 10. The above examples, which are not exhaustive, demonstrate that there were, at least, other possibilities open to the French authorities which, if pursued or even explored, might have enabled them to comply with their Convention obligations. Such alternative measures as outlined herein may be considered as extraordinary or far-reaching but when fundamental human rights are at stake exceptional circumstances may, indeed, call for exceptional measures. In this case, far from doing everything possible to bring the applicants promptly before a judge, there is no evidence at all that the above or any alternative measures were even contemplated. Rather, notwithstanding the vessel’s poor state of repair and its incapacity to travel at speed, the crew was simply detained on board the Winner while it made its way, slowly, back to Brest. Thus, it seems to us that the least favourable measure (in terms of travel time) was chosen by the authorities and that any other option would have been preferable in order to ensure compliance with the requirement of promptness contained in Article 5 § 3 of the Convention. 11. We could have accepted a dilution of the protection of personal liberty had it been the result of some material impossibility on the part of the authorities to respect the requirements of Article 5 § 3. We cannot accept it when the authorities had within their power alternative ways to ensure respect for fundamental rights but chose, rather, to do next to nothing about it. Had the French authorities invested a fraction of the resources used to ensure the success of the operation in order to ensure its legality, then this complaint would not have arisen.