Government to respond within three months. 11. At the 18th Session in October 1995, the communication was declared admissible, and the Commission decided that the proposed mission to Nigeria should bring it up. 12. Communication 150/96 is submitted by Civil Liberties Organisation and dated 15th January 1996. It was received at the Secretariat on 29th January 1996. 13. At the 20th Session held in Grand Bay, Mauritius in October 1996, the Commission declared the communication admissible, and decided that the planned mission would take it up with the relevant authorities to Nigeria. 14. The mission went to Nigeria from 7th to 14th March 1997 and a report was submitted to the Commission. 15. The parties were duly notified of all the procedures. Law Admissibility 16. Article 56(5) of the Charter requires that a Complainant exhausts local remedies before the Commission can consider the case. Section 4 (1) of the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No. 2 of 1984 states: (1) no suit or other proceedings shall lie against any persons for anything done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act. Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is hereby suspended for the purposes of this Act and any question whether any provision thereof has been or is being or would be contravened by anything done or proposed to be done in pursuance of this Act shall not be inquired into in any court of law, and accordingly sections 219 and 259 of that Constitution shall not apply in relation to any such question. 17. In its decision on communication 129/94, the Commission accepted the argument of the Complainants that the above ouster decrees create a situation in which "it is reasonable to presume that domestic remedies will not only be prolonged but are certain to yield no results." (ACHPR 129/94:9) 18. The ouster clauses create a legal situation in which the judiciary can provide no check on the executive branch of government. A few courts in the Lagos Division have occasionally found that they have jurisdiction; in 1995, the Court of Appeal in Lagos relying on common law, found that courts should examine some decrees notwithstanding ouster clauses, where the decree is "offensive and utterly hostile to rationality". On their face, ouster clauses remove the right of courts to review decrees. 19. For these reasons, the Commission declared the communications admissible. Merits 20. Both communications allege that the government has prohibited the issuance by any court of the writ of habeas corpus or any prerogative order for the production of any person detained under Decree No. 2 of 1984. Decree No. 14 denies the right to those detained for acts "prejudicial to state security or the economic adversity (sic) of the nation". A panel has the power to review the detentions but this is not a judicial body and its members are appointed by the President. 21. Article 6 of the Charter reads: Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained . 22. The problem of arbitrary detention has existed for hundreds of years. The writ of habeas corpus was developed as the response of common law to arbitrary detention, permitting detained persons and their representatives to challenge such detention and to demand that the authority either release or justify all imprisonment. 23. Habeas corpus has become a fundamental facet of common law legal systems. It permits individuals to challenge their detention proactively and collaterally, rather than waiting for the outcome of whatever legal proceedings may be brought against them. It is especially vital in those instances in which charges have not, or may never be, brought against the detained individual. 24. Deprivation of the right to habeas corpus alone does not automatically violate Article 6. Indeed, if Article 6 were never violated, there would be no need for habeas corpus provisions. However, where violation of 2