SAADI v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
27
78. As regards the third criterion, the place and conditions of detention,
the Court notes that the Oakington Centre was specifically adapted to hold
asylum seekers and that various facilities, for recreation, religious
observance, medical care and, importantly, legal assistance, were provided
(see paragraph 25 above). While there was, undoubtedly, an interference
with the applicant's liberty and comfort, he makes no complaint regarding
the conditions in which he was held and the Court holds that the detention
was free from arbitrariness under this head.
79. Finally, as regards the length of the detention, the Court recalls that
the applicant was held for seven days at Oakington, and released the day
after his claim to asylum had been refused at first instance. This period of
detention cannot be said to have exceeded that reasonably required for the
purpose pursued.
80. In conclusion, therefore, the Court finds that, given the difficult
administrative problems with which the United Kingdom was confronted
during the period in question, with an escalating flow of huge numbers of
asylum-seekers (and see also Amuur, cited above, § 41), it was not
incompatible with Article 5 § 1(f) of the Convention to detain the applicant
for seven days in suitable conditions to enable his claim to asylum to be
processed speedily. Moreover, regard must be had to the fact that the
provision of a more efficient system of determining large numbers of
asylum claims rendered unnecessary recourse to a broader and more
extensive use of detention powers.
It follows that there has been no violation of Article 5 § 1 in the present
case.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 § 2 OF THE CONVENTION
81. The applicant contended that he was not informed of the genuine
reason for his detention until some 76 hours after his arrest, when the
information was given orally to his legal representative in response to that
person's enquiry. He alleged a violation of Article 5 § 2 of the Convention,
which provides as follows:
“Everyone who is arrested shall be informed promptly, in a language which he
understands, of the reasons for his arrest and of any charge against him.”
82. The Government pointed to the general statements of intent
regarding the Oakington detention regime. They accepted that the forms in
use at the time of the applicant's detention were deficient, but contended that
the reasons given orally to the applicant's on-site representative (who knew
the general reasons) on 5 January 2001 were sufficient to enable the
applicant to challenge the lawfulness of his detention under Article 5 § 4 if
he wished.