Defence lawyers also challenged the accuracy of the court record. Copies of the proceedings of the trial have still not been provided, over 18 months after it has finished. The lack of an accurate record renders challenges to the independence of the court and appeals difficult. Interpreters are provided at the expense of the State, the maximum period of confinement is 24 hours except in capital cases when the same is 14 days. If these periods are exceeded, the burden of justifying any excess is on the detaining authority.
Compensation is paid if delay is unjustified.
Confessions obtained as a result of torture are inadmissible as evidence. However, as noted above, Amnesty International has found few cases where magistrates or judges challenge the length of pre-trial detention. The police usually state that they had not finished their inquiries. This practice continues. In July 1997 two men were arrested on a Friday and were only brought to court the following Wednesday after a habeas corpus action was issued.