(2) A State may take measures derogating from its Convention obligations only to the extent strictly required by the situation
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 144. In their original application, lodged with the Commission on 16 December 1971, and later supplemented, the Irish Government made various allegations of violations by the United Kingdom of Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 14 (art. 1, art. 2, art. 3, art. 5, art. 6, art. 14) of the Convention. 145. On 1 October 1972, the Commission declared the application inadmissible as regards Article 2 (art. 2) but accepted the allegations that: - the treatment of persons in custody, in particular the methods of interrogation of such persons, constituted an administrative practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3); - internment without trial and detention under the Special Powers Act and the Special Powers Regulations constituted an administrative practice in breach of Articles 5 and 6 in connection with Article 15 (art. 15+5, art. 15+6); - the exercise by the respondent Government of their power to detain and intern persons was being carried out with discrimination on the grounds of political opinion and thus constituted a breach of Article 14 (art. 14) with respect to the rights and freedoms guaranteed in Articles 5 and 6 in conjunction with Article 15 (art. 15+5, art. 15+6); - the administrative practices complained of also constituted a breach of Article 1 (art. 1). 146. In addition to receiving written observations and evidence from the two Governments concerned and to hearing their oral submissions, the Commission also heard - through delegates and in the circumstances more particularly detailed in its report - a total of 119 witnesses. One hundred gave evidence in relation to the issues under Article 3 (art. 3) and nineteen in relation to those under Article 14 (art. 14); of the latter, three were witnesses proposed by the respondent Government who were heard by the delegates in London in the absence of representatives of the Parties and without being subjected to cross-examination. 147. In its report, the Commission expressed the opinion: (i) unanimously, that the powers of detention and internment without trial as exercised during the relevant periods were not in conformity with Article 5, paras. 1 to 4 (art. 5-1, art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4), but were "strictly required by the exigencies of the situation" in Northern Ireland, within the meaning of Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1); (ii) unanimously, that Article 6 (art. 6) did not apply to the said powers; (iii) unanimously, that the facts found in relation to the relevant periods did not disclose any discrimination contrary to Article 14 (art. 14) in the exercise of the said powers; (iv) unanimously, that the combined use of the five techniques in the cases before it constituted a practice of inhuman treatment and of torture in breach of Article 3 (art. 3); (v) unanimously, that violations of Article 3 (art. 3) occurred by inhuman, and in two cases degrading, treatment of - T 6, in an unidentified interrogation centre in August 1971, - T 2, T 8, T 12, T 15, T 9, T 14 and T 10 at Palace Barracks, Holywood, in September, October and November 1971, - T 16, T 7 and T 11, at various places in August, October and December 1971; (vi) unanimously, that there had been at Palace Barracks, Holywood, in the autumn of 1971, a practice in connection with the interrogation of prisoners by members of the RUC which was inhuman treatment in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) of the Convention; (vii) unanimously, that no practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) had been found to exist in relation to the cases of T 16, T 7 and T 11, including the general conditions at Girdwood Park in August 1971; (viii) unanimously, that the conditions of detention at Ballykinler in August 1971 did not disclose a violation of Article 3 (art. 3); (ix) by twelve votes to one, that Article 1 (art. 1), not granting any rights in addition to those mentioned in Section I of the Convention, cannot be the subject of a separate breach. The report contains various separate opinions. AS TO THE LAW 148. Paragraph (d) of the application of 10 March 1976 states that the object of bringing the case before the Court (Rule 31 para. 1 (d) of the Rules of Court) is "to ensure the observance in Northern Ireland of the engagements undertaken by the respondent Government as a High Contracting Party to the Convention and in particular of the engagements specifically set out by the applicant Government in the pleadings filed and the submissions made on their behalf and described in the evidence adduced before the Commission in the hearings before them". "To this end", the Court is invited "to consider the report of the Commission and to confirm the opinion of the Commission that breaches of the Convention have occurred and also to consider the claims of the applicant Government with regard to other alleged breaches and to make a finding of breach of the Convention where the Court is satisfied that a breach has occurred". In their written and oral pleadings before the Court, the Irish Government allege breaches of Articles 1, 3 (art. 1, art. 3), 5 (taken together with Article 15) (art. 15+5), 6 (taken together with Article 15) (art. 15+6) and 14 (taken together with Articles 5 and 6) (art. 14+5, art. 14+6). They also maintain - though they do not ask the Court to make a specific finding - that the British Government failed on several occasions in their duty to furnish the necessary facilities for the effective conduct of the investigation. The Commission does not go as far as that; however, at various places in its report, the Commission points out, in substance, that the respondent Government did not always afford it the assistance desirable. The Court regrets this attitude on the part of that Government; it must stress the fundamental importance of the principle, enshrined in Article 28, sub-paragraph (a) (art. 28-a) in fine, that the Contracting States have a duty to cooperate with the Convention institutions. 149. The Court notes first of all that it is not called upon to take cognisance of every single aspect of the tragic situation prevailing in Northern Ireland. For example, it is not required to rule on the terrorist activities in the six counties of individuals or of groups, activities that are in clear disregard of human rights. The Court has only to give a decision on the claims made before it by the Irish Republic against the United Kingdom. However, in so doing, the Court cannot lose sight of the events that form the background to this case. I. ON ARTICLE 3 (art. 3) 150. Article 3 (art. 3) provides that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". A. Preliminary questions 151. In their memorial of 26 October 1976 and at the hearings in February 1977, the United Kingdom Government raised two preliminary questions on the alleged violations of Article 3 (art. 3). The first concerns the violations which they no longer contest, the second certain of the violations whose existence they dispute. 1. Preliminary question on the non-contested violations of Article 3 (art. 3) 152. The United Kingdom Government contest neither the breaches of Article 3 (art. 3) as found by the Commission (see paragraph 147 above), nor - a point moreover that is beyond doubt - the Court ’ s jurisdiction to examine such breaches. However, relying inter alia on the case-law of the International Court of Justice (Northern Cameroons case, judgment of 2 December 1963, and Nuclear Tests cases, judgments of 20 December 1974),they argue that the European Court has power to decline to exercise its jurisdiction where the objective of an application has been accomplished or where adjudication on the merits would be devoid of purpose. Such, they claim, is the situation here. They maintain that the findings in question not only are not contested but also have been widely publicised and that they do not give rise to problems of interpretation or application of the Convention sufficiently important to require a decision by the Court. Furthermore, for them the subject-matter of those findings now belongs to past history in view of the abandonment of the five techniques (1972), the solemn and unqualified undertaking not to reintroduce these techniques (8 February 1977) and the other measures taken by the United Kingdom to remedy, impose punishment for, and prevent the recurrence of, the various violations found by the Commission. This argument is disputed by the applicant Government. Neither is it accepted in a general way by the delegates of the Commission; they stated, however, that they would express no conclusion as to whether or not the above-mentioned undertaking had deprived the claim concerning the five techniques of its object. 153. The Court takes formal note of the undertaking given before it, at the hearing on 8 February 1977, by the United Kingdom Attorney-General on behalf of the respondent Government. The terms of this undertaking were as follows: "The Government of the United Kingdom have considered the question of the use of the ‘ five techniques ’ with very great care and with particular regard to Article 3 (art. 3) of the Convention. They now give this unqualified undertaking, that the ‘ five techniques ’ will not in any circumstances be reintroduced as an aid to interrogation." The Court also notes that the United Kingdom has taken various measures designed to prevent the recurrence of the events complained of and to afford reparation for their consequences. For example, it has issued to the police and the army instructions and directives on the arrest, interrogation and treatment of persons in custody, reinforced the procedures for investigating complaints, appointed commissions of enquiry and paid or offered compensation in many cases (see paragraphs 99-100, 107, 110-111, 116-118, 121-122, 124, 128-130, 132, 135-139 and 142-143 above). 154. Nevertheless, the Court considers that the responsibilities assigned to it within the framework of the system under the Convention extend to pronouncing on the non-contested allegations of violation of Article 3 (art. 3). The Court ’ s judgments in fact serve not only to decide those cases brought before the Court but, more generally, to elucidate, safeguard and develop the rules instituted by the Convention, thereby contributing to the observance by the States of the engagements undertaken by them as Contracting Parties (Article 19) (art. 19). The conclusion thus arrived at by the Court is, moreover, confirmed by paragraph 3 of Rule 47 of the Rules of Court. If the Court may proceed with the consideration of a case and give a ruling thereon even in the event of a "notice of discontinuance, friendly settlement, arrangement" or "other fact of a kind to provide a solution of the matter", it is entitled a fortiori to adopt such a course of action when the conditions for the application of this Rule are not present. 155. Accordingly, that part of the present case which concerns the said allegations cannot be said to have become without object; the Court considers that it should rule thereon, notwithstanding the initiatives taken by the respondent State. 2. Preliminary question on certain of the contested violations of Article 3 (art. 3) 156. In their memorial of 28 July 1976, the Irish Government invited the Court to hold, unlike the Commission (see paragraphs 125, 130 and 147 above), that violations of Article 3 (art. 3) had occurred in the cases of T 3 (Ballykinler Regional Holding Centre, August 1971) and T 5 (St. Genevieve ’ s School, Belfast, August 1972) as well as in numerous places in Northern Ireland from 1971 to 1974. In addition to contesting the merits of these claims, the British Government also raised a preliminary question in connection therewith in their memorial of 26 October 1976 and at the hearings in February 1977. They argued that the complaints made did not expressly concern a practice but individual cases in which effective domestic remedies were available to the persons involved. Accordingly, in their submission, the said claims fell outside the area demarcated by the Commission on 1 October 1972 when it accepted the allegation that "the treatment of persons in custody ... constituted an administrative practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3)". The Irish Government replied that this line of argument was based on an incorrect interpretation of the above-mentioned decision and of the manner in which the Commission subsequently carried out its role. According to the delegates of the Commission, the Irish Government had not made clear whether they were asking the Court to censure a practice or merely to hold that certain persons had been subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 (art. 3). In the former case, but not in the latter, their request would, in the delegates ’ view, be in conformity with the decision of 1 October 1972. 157. The Court recalls that its jurisdiction in contentious matters is limited to applications which have first of all been lodged with and accepted by the Commission; this is perfectly clear from the structure of Sections III and IV of the Convention. The Commission ’ s decision declaring an application admissible determines the object of the case brought before the Court; it is only within the framework so traced that the Court, once a case is duly referred to it, may take cognisance of all questions of fact or of law arising in the course of the proceedings (De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, pp. 29-30, paras. 49 and 51; Handyside judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 24, p. 20, para. 41; Stögmüller and Matznetter judgments of 10 November 1969, Series A no. 9, p. 41, para. 7, and no. 10, pp. 31-32, para. 5; Delcourt judgment of 17 January 1970, Series A no. 11, p. 20, para. 40). Again, Article 49 (art. 49) of the Convention provides that the Court shall settle disputes concerning its jurisdiction. It follows that, in order to rule on this preliminary plea, the Court must itself interpret the above-mentioned decision of 1 October 1972, in the particular light of the Commission ’ s explanations (see, mutatis mutandis, the Kjeldsen, Busk Madsen and Pedersen judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 23, pp. 22-24, para. 48). The allegation accepted by the Commission under Article 3 (art. 3) concerned a practice or practices and not individual cases as such. Accordingly, the Court ’ s sole task is to give a ruling on that allegation. However, a practice contrary to the Convention can result only from individual violations (see paragraph 159 below). Hence, it is open to the Court, just as it was to the Commission, to examine, as constituent elements or proof of a possible practice and not on an individual basis, specific cases alleged to have occurred in given places. The Court concludes that it has jurisdiction to take cognisance of the contested cases of violation of Article 3 (art. 3) if and to the extent that the applicant Government put them forward as establishing the existence of a practice. 158. Following the Order of 11 February 1977 (see paragraph 8 above), the Irish Government indicated, at the hearings in April 1977, that they were asking the Court to hold that there had been in Northern Ireland, from 1971 to 1974, a practice or practices in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) and to specify, if need be, where they had occurred. They also declared that they were no longer seeking specific findings in relation to the cases of T 3 and T 5. 159. A practice incompatible with the Convention consists of an accumulation of identical or analogous breaches which are sufficiently numerous and inter-connected to amount not merely to isolated incidents or exceptions but to a pattern or system; a practice does not of itself constitute a violation separate from such breaches. It is inconceivable that the higher authorities of a State should be, or at least should be entitled to be, unaware of the existence of such a practice. Furthermore, under the Convention those authorities are strictly liable for the conduct of their subordinates; they are under a duty to impose their will on subordinates and cannot shelter behind their inability to ensure that it is respected. The concept of practice is of particular importance for the operation of the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies. This rule, as embodied in Article 26 (art. 26) of the Convention, applies to State applications (Article 24) (art. 24), in the same way as it does to "individual" applications (Article 25) (art. 25), when the applicant State does no more than denounce a violation or violations allegedly suffered by "individuals" whose place, as it were, is taken by the State. On the other hand and in principle, the rule does not apply where the applicant State complains of a practice as such, with the aim of preventing its continuation or recurrence, but does not ask the Commission or the Court to give a decision on each of the cases put forward as proof or illustrations of that practice. The Court agrees with the opinion which the Commission, following its earlier case-law, expressed on the subject in its decision of 1 October 1972 on the admissibility of the Irish Government ’ s original application. Moreover, the Court notes that that decision is not contested by the respondent Government. B. Questions of proof 160. In order to satisfy itself as to the existence or not in Northern Ireland of practices contrary to Article 3 (art. 3), the Court will not rely on the concept that the burden of proof is borne by one or other of the two Governments concerned. In the cases referred to it, the Court examines all the material before it, whether originating from the Commission, the Parties or other sources, and, if necessary, obtains material proprio motu. 161. The Commission based its own conclusions mainly on the evidence of the one hundred witnesses heard in, and on the medical reports relating to, the sixteen "illustrative" cases it had asked the applicant Government to select. The Commission also relied, but to a lesser extent, on the documents and written comments submitted in connection with the "41 cases" and it referred to the numerous "remaining cases" (see paragraph 93 above). As in the "Greek case" (Yearbook of the Convention, 1969, The Greek case, p. 196, para. 30), the standard of proof the Commission adopted when evaluating the material it obtained was proof "beyond reasonable doubt". The Irish Government see this as an excessively rigid standard for the purposes of the present proceedings. They maintain that the system of enforcement would prove ineffectual if, where there was a prima facie case of violation of Article 3 (art. 3), the risk of a finding of such a violation was not borne by a State which fails in its obligation to assist the Commission in establishing the truth (Article 28, sub-paragraph (a) in fine, of the Convention) (art. 28-a). In their submission, this is how the attitude taken by the United Kingdom should be described. The respondent Government dispute this contention and ask the Court to follow the same course as the Commission. The Court agrees with the Commission ’ s approach regarding the evidence on which to base the decision whether there has been violation of Article 3 (art. 3). To assess this evidence, the Court adopts the standard of proof "beyond reasonable doubt" but adds that such proof may follow from the coexistence of sufficiently strong, clear and concordant inferences or of similar unrebutted presumptions of fact. In this context, the conduct of the Parties when evidence is being obtained has to be taken into account. C. Questions concerning the merits 162. As was emphasised by the Commission, ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3 (art. 3). The assessment of this minimum is, in the nature of things, relative; it depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration of the treatment, its physical or mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim, etc. 163. The Convention prohibits in absolute terms torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, irrespective of the victim ’ s conduct. Unlike most of the substantive clauses of the Convention and of Protocols Nos. 1 and 4 (P1, P4), Article 3 (art. 3) makes no provision for exceptions and, under Article 15 para. 2 (art. 15-2), there can be no derogation therefrom even in the event of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation. 164. In the instant case, the only relevant concepts are "torture" and "inhuman or degrading treatment", to the exclusion of "inhuman or degrading punishment". 1. The unidentified interrogation centre or centres (a) The "five techniques" 165. The facts concerning the five techniques are summarised at paragraphs 96-104 and 106-107 above. In the Commission ’ s estimation, those facts constituted a practice not only of inhuman and degrading treatment but also of torture. The applicant Government asks for confirmation of this opinion which is not contested before the Court by the respondent Government. 166. The police used the five techniques on fourteen persons in 1971 that is on twelve including T 6 and T 13, in August before the Compton Committee was set up, and on two in October whilst that Committee was carrying out its enquiry. Although never authorised in writing in any official document, the five techniques were taught orally by the English Intelligence Centre to members of the RUC at a seminar held in April 1971. There was accordingly a practice. 167. The five techniques were applied in combination, with premeditation and for hours at a stretch; they caused, if not actual bodily injury, at least intense physical and mental suffering to the persons subjected thereto and also led to acute psychiatric disturbances during interrogation. They accordingly fell into the category of inhuman treatment within the meaning of Article 3 (art. 3). The techniques were also degrading since they were such as to arouse in their victims feelings of fear, anguish and inferiority capable of humiliating and debasing them and possibly breaking their physical or moral resistance. On these two points, the Court is of the same view as the Commission. In order to determine whether the five techniques should also be qualified as torture, the Court must have regard to the distinction, embodied in Article 3 (art. 3), between this notion and that of inhuman or degrading treatment. In the Court ’ s view, this distinction derives principally from a difference in the intensity of the suffering inflicted. The Court considers in fact that, whilst there exists on the one hand violence which is to be condemned both on moral grounds and also in most cases under the domestic law of the Contracting States but which does not fall within Article 3 (art. 3) of the Convention, it appears on the other hand that it was the intention that the Convention, with its distinction between "torture" and "inhuman or degrading treatment", should by the first of these terms attach a special stigma to deliberate inhuman treatment causing very serious and cruel suffering. Moreover, this seems to be the thinking lying behind Article 1 in fine of Resolution 3452 (XXX) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1975, which declares: "Torture constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Although the five techniques, as applied in combination, undoubtedly amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, although their object was the extraction of confessions, the naming of others and/or information and although they were used systematically, they did not occasion suffering of the particular intensity and cruelty implied by the word torture as so understood. 168. The Court concludes that recourse to the five techniques amounted to a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment, which practice was in breach of Article 3 (art. 3). (b) Ill-treatment alleged to have accompanied the use of the five techniques 169. The applicant Government claim that the fourteen persons subjected to the five techniques, or some of those persons including T 6 and T 13, also had to undergo other kinds of treatment contrary to Article 3 (art. 3). The Commission has found such treatment only in the case of T 6, although it regarded it as probable that the use of the five techniques was sometimes accompanied by physical violence (see paragraph 105 above). 170. As far as T 6 is concerned, the Court shares the Commission ’ s opinion that the security forces subjected T 6 to assaults severe enough to constitute inhuman treatment. This opinion, which is not contested by the respondent Government, is borne out by the evidence before the Court. 171. In the thirteen remaining cases examined in this context, including the contested case of T 13, the Court has no evidence to support a finding of breaches of Article 3 (art. 3) over and above that resulting from the application of the five techniques. 172. Accordingly, no other practice contrary to Article 3 (art. 3) is established for the unidentified interrogation centre or centres; the findings relating to the individual case of T 6 cannot, of themselves, amount to proof of a practice. 2. Palace Barracks 173. The Commission came to the view that inhuman treatment had occurred at Palace Barracks in September, October and November 1971 in seven of the nine "illustrative" cases it examined, namely those of T 2, T 8, T 12, T 15, T 9, T 14 and T 10. It considered that these cases, combined with other indications, showed that there had been in these Barracks, in the autumn of 1971, a practice in connection with the interrogation of prisoners by members of the RUC which was inhuman treatment. The British Government do not contest these conclusions; the Irish Government ask the Court to confirm them but also to supplement them in various respects. (a) Autumn 1971 174. Insofar as the Commission has found that a practice of inhuman treatment was followed in the autumn of 1971, for example in the cases of T 2, T 8, T 12, T 15, T 9, T 14 and T 10, the facts summarised above (paragraphs 110-111 and 115-116) bear out its opinion. The evidence before the Court reveals that, at the time in question, quite a large number of those held in custody at Palace Barracks were subjected to violence by members of the RUC. This violence, which was repeated violence occurring in the same place and taking similar forms, did not amount merely to isolated incidents; it definitely constituted a practice. It also led to intense suffering and to physical injury which on occasion was substantial; it thus fell into the category of inhuman treatment. According to the applicant Government, the violence in question should also be classified, in some cases, as torture. On the basis of the data before it, the Court does not share this view. Admittedly, the acts complained of often occurred during interrogation and, to this extent, were aimed at extracting confessions, the naming of others and/or information, but the severity of the suffering that they were capable of causing did not attain the particular level inherent in the notion of torture as understood by the Court (see paragraph 167 above). 175. In their memorial of 28 July 1976, the applicant Government asked the Court to hold, unlike the Commission, that T 1 and T 4 had also been victims of violations of Article 3 (art. 3) (see paragraphs 112-114 above). The delegates of the Commission argued that it would serve no purpose to add these two cases to the list since, like the other seven, they date from the autumn of 1971 and there is no longer any dispute between those appearing before the Court as to the existence during this period of a practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3). At the hearings in February 1977, the Irish Government acknowledged the validity of this argument. They declared that the Court would not need to make a specific finding on the contested cases of T 1 and T 4 if it confirmed the Commission ’ s non-contested conclusions. The Court takes note of this declaration. For the reasons given by the delegates, it considers that an examination of these two individual cases would be superfluous. (b) From autumn 1971 to June 1972 176. Finally, the Irish Government request the Court to hold that the practice complained of continued until June 1972 when Palace Barracks were closed down as a holding centre. In their submission, there is no proof to the contrary and there are indications that the practice did so continue. The respondent Government state, inter alia, that they do not perceive how, by relying on nothing more than inferences, the Court could on this issue reach a conclusion different from the Commission ’ s. 177. Concurring with the submission made by the delegates of the Commission, the Court finds that, like the Commission, it lacks sufficient evidence on which to decide whether or not the practice in question continued at Palace Barracks beyond the autumn of 1971: the only two cases dating from the first six months of 1972 (T 30 and T 31) figured amongst the "41 cases" and not the "illustrative" cases (see paragraphs 93, 109 and 116 above). For the reasons explained below (paragraph 184), the Court does not consider that it has to try to obtain further evidence. It therefore restricts its findings in the same way as the Commission. 3. Other places 178. According to the applicant Government, a practice or practices in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) existed in Northern Ireland from 1971 to 1974, for example at Girdwood Park and at Ballykinler; this allegation is denied by the respondent Government. The Commission was of the opinion that T 16 and T 7 had been victims of treatment that was both inhuman and degrading and T 11 of treatment that was inhuman: T 16 on 13 August 1971 at Girdwood Park, T 7 on 28 October 1971 in a street in Belfast and T 11 on 20 December 1971 at Albert Street Barracks, also in Belfast. However, the Commission considered that no practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) had been established in relation to these cases, including the general conditions at Girdwood Park (see paragraph 147 above) and, further, that the conditions of detention at Ballykinler did not disclose a violation of that Article (art. 3) (ibid.). (a) Ballykinler 179. The Court first examined the situation at the Ballykinler military camp. For this purpose, it did not have to investigate separately the individual contested case of T 3 on which the Irish Government are no longer seeking a specific finding (see paragraph 158 above). 180. The RUC, with the assistance of the army, used Ballykinler as a holding and interrogation centre for a few days early in August 1971. Some dozens of people arrested in the course of Operation Demetrius were held there in extreme discomfort and were made to perform irksome and painful exercises; eleven of those persons subsequently received compensation (see paragraphs 123-126 above). There was thus a practice rather than isolated incidents. The Court found confirmation of this in the judgment of 18 February 1972 in the Moore case. 181. The Court has to determine whether this practice violated Article 3 (art. 3). Clearly, it would not be possible to speak of torture or inhuman treatment, but the question does arise whether there was not degrading treatment. The Armagh County Court granted Mr. Moore £300 by way of damages, the maximum amount it had jurisdiction to award. This fact shows that the matters of which Mr. Moore complained were, if nothing else, contrary to the domestic law then in force in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the way in which prisoners at Ballykinler were treated was characterised in the judgment of 18 February 1972 as not only illegal but also harsh. However, the judgment does not describe the treatment in detail; it concentrates mainly on reciting the evidence tendered by the witnesses and indicates that the judge rejected that given on behalf of the defence. The Compton Committee for its part considered that, although the exercises which detainees had been made to do involved some degree of compulsion and must have caused hardship, they were the result of lack of judgment rather than an intention to hurt or degrade. To sum up, the RUC and the army followed at Ballykinler a practice which was discreditable and reprehensible but the Court does not consider that they infringed Article 3 (art. 3). (b) Miscellaneous places 182. There remain the various other places referred to by the Irish Government (see paragraphs 119-122 and 127-132 above). The information before the Court concerning these places - for example the large number of cases in which compensation was paid by the British authorities and the many criminal or disciplinary sanctions imposed on members of the security forces (see paragraphs 140-143 above) - suggests that there must have been individual violations of Article 3 (art. 3) in Northern Ireland over and above the breaches already noted by the Court (see paragraphs 167, 170 and 174 above). However, the Commission did not regard this information, which it had obtained by using a method accepted by the Parties (see paragraph 93 above), as being sufficient to disclose a practice or practices in breach of Article 3 (art. 3). The Court shares this view. Admittedly, the evidence before the Court bears out the Commission ’ s opinion on the cases of T 16, T 7 and T 11 which the respondent Government do not contest (see paragraphs 120, 128 and 129 above). However, these were incidents insufficiently numerous and inter-connected to amount to a practice, even if one were to add the contested case of T 5 (St. Genevieve ’ s School, Belfast, 13 August 1972, paragraph 130 above), on which the applicant Government are no longer seeking a specific finding (see paragraph 158 above). 183. The Irish Government stress, inter alia, that interrogations at Palace Barracks and Girdwood Park were conducted by the same members of the RUC on a rotating system (see paragraph 108 above). The Government regard it as improbable that these men observed Article 3 (art. 3) in the second of these centres when they contravened it in the first. There is some force in this argument, but it is only a presumption and so cannot be taken as conclusive on its own. 184. The Court would be empowered to obtain, if necessary proprio motu, additional evidence (Rule 38 of the Rules of Court). However, such a course would oblige the Court to select a series of further "illustrative" cases and to hear a substantial number of further witnesses, failing which it might well, as the delegates of the Commission emphasised, arrive at extremely tenuous conclusions. It is not essential to re-open the investigation in this way in the present case. Indeed, the preventive measures taken by the United Kingdom (see paragraphs 133-136 above) at first sight render hardly plausible, especially as regards the period after the introduction of direct rule (30 March 1972), if not the suggestion of individual violations of Article 3 (art. 3) - on which the Court does not have to give a specific ruling (see paragraph 157 above), at least the suggestion of the continuation or commencement of a practice or practices in breach of that Article (art. 3). Furthermore, anyone claiming to be the victim of a breach of Article 3 (art. 3) in Northern Ireland is entitled to exercise the domestic remedies open to him (Article 26 the Convention) (art. 26) and subsequently, if need be, to apply to the Commission whose competence to receive "individual" petitions has been recognised by the United Kingdom (Article 25) (art. 25); this in fact often happened. Finally, the findings made in connection with the five techniques and Palace Barracks, henceforth embodied in a binding judgment of the Court, provide a far from negligible guarantee against a return to the serious errors of former times. In these circumstances, the interests protected by the Convention do not compel the Court to undertake lengthy researches that would delay the Court ’ s decision. 185. In conclusion, the Court does not find, as regards the places concerned, any practice in breach of Article 3 (art. 3). 4. The Irish request for a consequential order 186. In a letter dated 5 January 1977, the applicant Government requested the Court to order that the respondent Government - refrain from reintroducing the five techniques, as a method of interrogation or otherwise; - proceed as appropriate, under the criminal law of the United Kingdom and the relevant disciplinary code, against those members of the security forces who have committed acts in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) referred to in the Commission ’ s findings and conclusions, and against those who condoned or tolerated them. At the hearings, the applicant Government withdrew the first request following the solemn undertaking given on behalf of the United Kingdom Government on 8 February 1977 (see paragraph 153 above); on the other hand, the second request was maintained. 187. The Court does not have to consider in these proceedings whether its functions extend, in certain circumstances, to addressing consequential orders to Contracting States. In the present case, the Court finds that the sanctions available to it do not include the power to direct one of those States to institute criminal or disciplinary proceedings in accordance with its domestic law. II. ON ARTICLE 5 (art. 5) 188. The substance of the Irish Government ’ s allegations is that - the various powers relating to extrajudicial deprivation of liberty which were used in the six counties from 9 August 1971 to March 1975 did not satisfy the conditions prescribed by Article 5 (art. 5); - those powers violated Article 5 (art. 5) since they failed to meet in full the requirements of Article 15 (art. 15); - those powers were furthermore exercised with discrimination and consequently also violated Article 14 taken together with Article 5 (art. 14+5). 189. The applicant Government are not asking the Court to give a ruling on the legislation subsequent to March 1975, the date of the final hearings of the Parties before the Commission. However, the Emergency Provisions Amendment Act, certain of whose provisions reintroduced the principle of detention by order of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, did not enter into force until 21 August 1975 (see paragraph 90 above). An ex officio examination of those provisions is not called for: the information made available to the Court suggests that they have not been used since 5 December 1975 (see paragraph 91 above) and, besides, does not indicate that resort was ever had to them before that date. 190. The legislation prior to March 1975 (see paragraphs 80-89 above) is criticised by the Irish Government as regards both its terms and its application. However, the first aspect is a matter for, and must be dealt with under, Articles 1 and 24 (art. 1, art. 24) (see paragraphs 236-243 below). Only the second aspect is relevant under Article 5 (art. 5), taken alone or together with Articles 15 and 14 (art. 15+5, art. 14+5). In addition, the scope of the Court ’ s review extends to the application of that legislation between 9 August 1971 and March 1975 only as a practice and not in a given individual case; this is clear from the documents before the Court read as a whole and, in particular, from the decision of 1 October 1972 on the admissibility of the original application of 16 December 1971. 191. It will, of course, be necessary to have regard to Article 15 (art. 15) in deciding whether any derogation from Article 5 (art. 5) were, in the circumstances of the case, compatible with the Convention, but the Court considers that it should ascertain in what respects the measures complained of derogated from Article 5 (art. 5) before assessing them under Article 15 (art. 15). A. Paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-1, art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4), taken alone 192. Paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-1, art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4) read as follows: "1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law: (a) the lawful detention of a person after conviction by a competent court; (b) the lawful arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful order of a court or in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law; (c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so; (d) the detention of a minor by lawful order for the purpose of educational supervision or his lawful detention for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority; (e) the lawful detention of persons for the prevention of the spreading of infectious diseases, of persons of unsound mind, alcoholics or drug addicts or vagrants; (f) the lawful arrest or detention of a person to prevent his effecting an unauthorised entry into the country or of a person against whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or extradition. 2. 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. 3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article (art. 5-1-c) shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial. 4. Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful." 193. In the Commission ’ s opinion, the powers at issue - as exercised by the competent authorities - did not comply with paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-1, art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4) on a number of points. The applicant Government agree with this conclusion; the respondent Government do not contest it but indicate that they do not necessarily accept all of the reasons. 1. Paragraph 1 (art. 5-1) 194. Paragraph 1 of Article 5 (art. 5-1) contains a list of the cases in which it is permissible under the Convention to deprive someone of his liberty. Subject to Article 15 (art. 15) - and without prejudice to Article 1 of Protocol No. 4 (P4-1) which the United Kingdom has not ratified -, that list is exhaustive: this appears from the words "save in the following cases" and is confirmed by Article 17 (art. 17). 195. The different forms of deprivation of liberty in this case clearly did not fall under sub-paragraphs (a), (d), (e) and (f) of paragraph 1 (art. 5-1-a, art. 5-1-d, art. 5-1-e, art. 5-1-f). Neither were such deprivations covered by sub-paragraph (b) (art. 5-1-b), since they had no connection whatsoever with a "non-compliance with the ... order of a court" and were not designed to "secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law" (Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, p. 51, para. 12; Engel and others judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 28, para. 69, third sub-paragraph). 196. At first sight, the different forms of deprivation of liberty may appear to bear some resemblance to the cases contemplated by sub-paragraph (c) (art. 5-1-c). However, a "suspicion" of an "offence" was not required before a person could be arrested under Regulation 10, nor did it have to be "considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so"; arrest had merely to be "for the preservation of the peace and maintenance of order" and was sometimes used to interrogate the person concerned about the activities of others (see paragraph 81 above). On the other hand, the other three Regulations complained of by the Irish Government did require a suspicion. While Regulations 11 (1) (arrest) and 11 (2) (detention) spoke both of an "offence" and of activity "prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order" (see paragraphs 82 and 83 above), and while this latter concept alone appeared in Regulation 12 (1) (internment, paragraph 84 above), section 2 (4) of the Special Powers Act made such activity an offence. The Terrorists Order (interim custody and detention) and the Emergency Provisions Act (arrest, interim custody and detention), for their part, were applicable only to individuals suspected of having been concerned in the commission or attempted commission of any act of terrorism, that is the use of violence for political ends, or in the organisation of persons for the purpose of terrorism; these criteria were well in keeping with the idea of an offence (see paragraphs 85-88 above). Irrespective of whether extrajudicial deprivation of liberty was or was not founded in the majority of cases on suspicions of a kind that would render detention on remand justifiable under the Convention, such detention is permissible under Article 5 para. 1 (c) (art. 5-1-c) only if it is "effected for the purpose of bringing [the detainee] before the competent legal authority". Yet this condition – if interpreted, as must be done, in the light of paragraph 3 of Article 5 (art. 5-3) (Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, pp. 51-53, para. 14) - was not fulfilled; the Court refers, in this connection, to paragraph 199 below. 2. Paragraphs 2 to 4 197. Paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4) place the Contracting States under an obligation to provide several guarantees in cases where someone is deprived of his liberty. 198. Under paragraph 2 (art. 5-2), "everyone who is arrested shall be informed promptly ... of the reasons for his arrest and of any charge against him". However, there was no such provision either in Regulations 10 and 11 (1) or in section 10 of the Emergency Provisions Act. In point of fact, the persons concerned were not normally informed why they were being arrested; in general, they were simply told that the arrest was made pursuant to the emergency legislation and they were given no further details (see paragraphs 81 and 82 above). This practice originated in instructions issued to the military police in May 1970 and it continued at least until it was declared unlawful by the courts (see the McElduff case, judgment of 12 October 1971, and the Kelly case, judgment of 11 January 1973, on Regulation 11 (1); the Moore case, judgment of 18 February 1972, on Regulation 10). 199. As for paragraph 3 (art. 5-3), taken together with paragraph 1 (c) (art. 5-1-c) (see paragraph 196 above), the Court finds that the impugned measures were not effected for the purpose of bringing the persons concerned "promptly" before "the competent legal authority", namely "a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power". Persons originally detained under, for example, Regulation 11 (2) were, in fact, sometimes brought before the ordinary courts (see paragraph 83 above), but paragraphs 1 (c) and 3 of Article 5 (art. 5-1-c, art. 5-3) of the Convention are not satisfied by an appearance "before the competent legal authority" in some cases since such appearance is obligatory in every single case governed by those paragraphs. For its part, the advisory committee before which were brought - on the occasions when they so consented – individuals interned under Regulation 12 (1) did not have power to order their release and accordingly did not constitute a "competent legal authority" (see paragraph 84 above). On the other hand, such a power was vested by the Terrorists Order and, subsequently, by the Emergency Provisions Act in the commissioners who adjudicated on cases of persons subjected to interim custody orders made by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. However, even if such a commissioner is regarded as a judicial authority ("officer"," magistrat "), appearance before him did not take place" aussitôt ", or even "promptly" (see paragraphs 86-88 above). A person "arrested or detained" pursuant to one of the provisions complained of was even less entitled to "trial within a reasonable time" or to "release pending trial" conditioned, if need be, by "guarantees to appear for trial", within the meaning of Article 5 para. 3 (art. 5-3). Quite the contrary: the reason for the existence of those provisions and of the related practice was the fact that the circumstances prevailing at the time made it difficult, subject to exceptions, to institute criminal proceedings which would in principle have led to a judicial hearing ("audience") and to a "[decision] on the merits" (Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, p. 52, first sub-paragraph). 200. There remains paragraph 4 (art. 5-4) which is applicable to "everyone who is deprived of his liberty", whether lawfully or not (De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, pp. 39-40, para. 73). Under Regulations 10, 11 (1) and 11 (2) there was no entitlement to "take proceedings by which the lawfulness of [the] detention [would] be decided speedily by a court" and "release ordered if the detention" proved to be "not lawful" (see paragraphs 81-83 above). As regards Regulation 12 (1), the advisory committee to which internees had the possibility of making representations could at most recommend, as opposed to order, release, as the Court has already noted (see paragraphs 84 and 199 above). Moreover, the committee ’ s procedure did not afford the fundamental guarantees inherent in the notion of "court" as used in Article 5 para. 4 (art. 5-4) (De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, pp. 40-42, para. 76, second and third sub-paragraphs, and para. 78; paragraph 84 above). The last remark also applies, mutatis mutandis, to the commissioners and to the appeal tribunal entrusted with supervisory functions by the Terrorists Order and, subsequently, by the Emergency Provisions Act (see paragraphs 87-88 above). Here again, the Court does not consider it indispensable to enquire further into the matter. In fact, only the Chief Constable and, in certain circumstances, the Secretary of State were empowered to refer to a commissioner the case of a person detained under an interim custody order (see paragraphs 86-88 above). The detainee himself was not entitled to "take proceedings" in respect of an interim custody order; he had no means of contesting the "lawfulness" of his detention, either during its initial twenty-eight day period or during its extension pending the commissioner ’ s adjudication (see paragraphs 86 and 88 above). When that adjudication resulted in a detention order, the individual could challenge the order before the appeal tribunal; in general, however, that tribunal did not give its decision "speedily", at least if, as must be done, the length of the earlier proceedings before the commissioner is also taken into account (see paragraphs 86-88 above). Accordingly, the commissioners and the appeal tribunal did not meet each of the requirements of Article 5 para. 4 (art. 5-4). The respondent Government maintain that habeas corpus proceedings, on the other hand, fully satisfied those requirements. The Court has, in fact, cognisance of a judgment delivered by a court before whom an individual had challenged under common law his deprivation of liberty pursuant to Regulations 11 (1) and 11 (2) (the McElduff case, judgment of 12 October 1971). However, the courts considered that their powers did not go beyond the limits indicated in paragraphs 81-84 above. The judicial review of the lawfulness of the measures in issue was thus not sufficiently wide in scope, taking into account the purpose and object of Article 5 para. 4 (art. 5-4) of the Convention. 201. On paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-1, art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4), taken alone, the Court therefore arrives at conclusions in line with those of the Commission. B. On Article 5 taken together with Article 15 (art. 15+5) 202. The applicant Government maintain that the powers relating to extrajudicial deprivation of liberty which were applied in Northern Ireland from 9 August 1971 to March 1975 were not in complete conformity with Article 15 (art. 15) and, accordingly, violated Article 5 (art. 5). The Commission is unanimous in not accepting this claim and it is disputed by the respondent Government. 203. Article 15 (art. 15) provides: "1. In time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any High Contracting Party may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law. 2. No derogation from Article 2 (art. 2), except in respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war, or from Articles 3, 4 (paragraph 1) and 7 (art. 3, art. 4-1, art. 7) shall be made under this provision. 3. Any High Contracting Party availing itself of this right of derogation shall keep the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe fully informed of the measures which it has taken and the reasons therefore. It shall also inform the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe when such measures have ceased to operate and the provisions of the Convention are again being fully executed." 204. Article 5 (art. 5) does not appear amongst the entrenched provisions listed in paragraph 2 of Article 15 (art. 15-2) and is therefore one of the Articles subject to the "right of derogation" reserved by the Contracting States, the exercise of which is regulated by paragraphs 1 and 3 (art. 15-1, art. 15-3). 1. On the "public emergency threatening the life of the nation" 205. Article 15 (art. 15) comes into play only "in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation". The existence of such an emergency is perfectly clear from the facts summarised above (paragraphs 12 and 29-75) and was not questioned by anyone before either the Commission or the Court. The crisis experienced at the time by the six counties therefore comes within the ambit of Article 15 (art. 15). 2. On the "extent strictly required" 206. The Contracting States may make use of their right of derogation only "to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation". The Irish Government consider the "extent strictly required" to have been exceeded, whereas the British Government and the Commission assert the contrary. (a) The role of the Court 207. The limits on the Court ’ s powers of review (see judgment of 23 July 1968 on the merits of the "Belgian Linguistic" case, Series A no. 6, p. 35, para. 10 in fine; Handyside judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 24, p. 22, para. 48) are particularly apparent where Article 15 (art. 15) is concerned. It falls in the first place to each Contracting State, with its responsibility for "the life of [its] nation", to determine whether that life is threatened by a "public emergency" and, if so, how far it is necessary to go in attempting to overcome the emergency. By reason of their direct and continuous contact with the pressing needs of the moment, the national authorities are in principle in a better position than the international judge to decide both on the presence of such an emergency and on the nature and scope of derogations necessary to avert it. In this matter Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1) leaves those authorities a wide margin of appreciation. Nevertheless, the States do not enjoy an unlimited power in this respect. The Court, which, with the Commission, is responsible for ensuring the observance of the States ’ engagements (Article 19) (art. 19), is empowered to rule on whether the States have gone beyond the "extent strictly required by the exigencies" of the crisis (Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, p. 55, para. 22, and pp. 57-59, paras. 36-38). The domestic margin of appreciation is thus accompanied by a European supervision. (b) Questions of evidence 208. The Irish Government ask the Court to exclude from its examination the following material: - by reason of their origin, the Diplock report (see paragraphs 58-59 above), statements made before the Commission by the representatives of the United Kingdom and the memorandum by the Northern Ireland Office, annexed to the British memorial to the Court; - for the reasons given in paragraph 210 below, the oral evidence obtained by the Commission under Article 14 (art. 14), including that of the witnesses G 1, G 2 and G 3, who were heard in London on 20 February 1975 (see paragraph 146 above). 209. The Court is not bound, under the Convention or under the general principles applicable to international tribunals, by strict rules of evidence. In order to satisfy itself, the Court is entitled to rely on evidence of every kind, including, insofar as it deems them relevant, documents or statements emanating from governments, be they respondent or applicant, or from their institutions or officials. Here, there can scarcely be any question as to the relevance of the evidence which the Irish Government challenge. In particular, the fact that some of it was given in connection with Article 14 (art. 14) rather than Article 15 (art. 15) is of little moment. 210. The hearing of the evidence of G 1, G 2 and G 3 gives rise to rather complex questions. The applicant Government invite the Court not to take account of that evidence because it was heard in the absence of the Parties and without cross-examination, as a result of the wishes of the respondent Government who thereby allegedly failed in their obligation to cooperate in establishing the truth (Article 28, sub-paragraph (a) in fine, of the Convention) (art. 28-a). The Court finds in the first place that it does not have jurisdiction to rule on the correctness of the procedure followed at that hearing. The Commission, with its independence from the Court when carrying out its fact-finding role (Lawless judgment of 14 November 1960, Series A no. 1, p. 11, second sub-paragraph), is master of its procedure and of the interpretation of its Rules of Procedure - in this case Rule 34 para. 2 - which it draws up under Article 36 (art. 36) of the Convention. On the other hand, the Court, being master of its own procedure and of its own rules (Article 55 of the Convention) (art. 55), has complete freedom in assessing not only the admissibility and the relevance but also the probative value of each item of evidence before it. It cannot attach to the evidence of G 1, G 2 and G 3 as much weight as to the evidence of witnesses who have been cross-examined. The Court looks upon the evidence of G 1, G 2 and G 3 as no more than one source of information amongst others and one which, being evidence coming from senior British officials, falls into a similar category to the respective statements made by the representatives of the two Governments to the Commission and the Court. Although that evidence was given on oath, it was obtained under conditions which reduce its weight. Besides, its importance was not over-estimated by the Commission which bore the absence of cross-examination in mind; the delegates took care to emphasise this. (c) Questions concerning the merits 211. The Court has to decide whether the United Kingdom went beyond the "extent strictly required". For this purpose the Court must, as in the Lawless case (judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, pp. 57-59, paras. 36-37), enquire into the necessity for, on the one hand, deprivation of liberty contrary to paragraph 1 of Article 5 (art. 5-1) and, on the other hand, the failure of guarantees to attain the level fixed by paragraphs 2 to 4 (art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4). (i) On the necessity for derogation from paragraph 1 of Article 5 (art. 5-1) by extrajudicial deprivation of liberty 212. Unquestionably, the exercise of the special powers was mainly, and before 5 February 1973 even exclusively, directed against the IRA as an underground military force. The intention was to combat an organisation which had played a considerable subversive role throughout the recent history of Ireland and which was creating, in August 1971 and thereafter, a particularly far-reaching and acute danger for the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom, the institutions of the six counties and the lives of the province ’ s inhabitants (see paragraphs 16, 17, 20, 28-32, 35-42, 44, 47-48, 54-55, 58, 61, 63 and 67 above). Being confronted with a massive wave of violence and intimidation, the Northern Ireland Government and then, after the introduction of direct rule (30 March 1972), the British Government were reasonably entitled to consider that normal legislation offered insufficient resources for the campaign against terrorism and that recourse to measures outside the scope of the ordinary law, in the shape of extrajudicial deprivation of liberty, was called for. When the Irish Republic was faced with a serious crisis in 1957, it adopted the same approach and the Court did not conclude that the "extent strictly required" had been exceeded (Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961, Series A no. 3, pp. 35-36, para. 14, and pp. 57-58, para. 36). However, under one of the provisions complained of, namely Regulation 10, a person who was in no way suspected of a crime or offence or of activities prejudicial to peace and order could be arrested for the sole purpose of obtaining from him information about others - and this sometimes occurred (see paragraphs 38 and 81 above). This sort of arrest can be justifiable only in a very exceptional situation, but the circumstances prevailing in Northern Ireland did fall into such a category. Many witnesses could not give evidence freely without running the greatest risks (see paragraphs 36, 53, 58-59 and 74 above); the competent authorities were entitled to take the view, without exceeding their margin of appreciation, that it was indispensable to arrest such witnesses so that they could be questioned in conditions of relative security and not be exposed to reprisals. Moreover and above all, Regulation 10 authorised deprivation of liberty only for a maximum of forty-eight hours. 213. From 9 August 1971 to 5 February 1973, the measures involving deprivation of liberty taken by the respondent State were used only against Republican terrorism even though as early as this period outrages, at first sporadic but later constantly more numerous, were attributable to Loyalist terrorism; even after 5 February 1973, the measures were applied against Republican terrorism to a much greater extent than against Loyalist terrorism despite the latter ’ s organisation and extensive development shortly after 30 March 1972. The Court will examine below (paragraphs 228-232) whether the difference of treatment between the two types of terrorism was such as to violate Article 14 (art. 14) of the Convention. This issue apart, it appears to the Court that the extrajudicial measures brought into operation could, in the situation described above, reasonably have been considered strictly required for the protection of public security and that, in the context of Article 15 (art. 15), their intrinsic necessity, once recognised, could not be affected by the restriction of their field of application. 214. The Irish Government submit that experience shows extrajudicial deprivation of liberty to have been ineffectual. They contend that the policy introduced on 9 August 1971 not only failed to put a brake on terrorism but also had the result of increasing it (see paragraphs 42, 44 and 47-48 above). Consequently, the British Government, after attenuating the policy in varying degrees following the introduction of direct rule (see paragraphs 50, 57 and 64 above), abandoned it on 5 December 1975: since then, it appears that no one has been detained in the six counties under the emergency legislation, despite the persistence of an intense campaign of violence and even though the Emergency Provisions Amendment Act has remained in force (see paragraphs 76 and 91 above). This, claim the applicant Government, confirms that extrajudicial deprivation of liberty was not an absolute necessity. The Court cannot accept this argument. It is certainly not the Court ’ s function to substitute for the British Government ’ s assessment any other assessment of what might be the most prudent or most expedient policy to combat terrorism. The Court must do no more than review the lawfulness, under the Convention, of the measures adopted by that Government from 9 August 1971 onwards. For this purpose the Court must arrive at its decision in the light, not of a purely retrospective examination of the efficacy of those measures, but of the conditions and circumstances reigning when they were originally taken and subsequently applied. Adopting, as it must, this approach, the Court accepts that the limits of the margin of appreciation left to the Contracting States by Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1) were not overstepped by the United Kingdom when it formed the opinion that extrajudicial deprivation of liberty was necessary from August 1971 to March 1975. (ii) On the necessity for derogation from the guarantees under paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4) 215. The Court must now examine under Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1) the necessity for the far-reaching derogations found by it to have been made from paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4) (see paragraphs 198-200 above). 216. Neither Regulations 10 and 11 (1) nor section 10 of the Emergency Provisions Act afforded any remedy, judicial or administrative, against arrests effected there under. Although persons arrested under Regulation 11 (1) could, before 7 November 1972, apply to the Civil Authority for release on bail, the Terrorists Order deprived them of this right by revoking Regulation 11 (4) under which it arose. However, the duration of such arrests never exceeded forty-eight hours as regards Regulation 10, seventy-two hours as regards section 10 of the Emergency Provisions Act and, in practice, seventy-two hours as regards Regulation 11 (1) (see paragraphs 81-82 and 88 above). 217. Similarly, Regulation 11 (2), Article 4 of the Terrorists Order and paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to the Emergency Provisions Act did not provide for any remedy. Detention under Regulation 11 (2) sometimes continued for longer than twenty-eight days, but it was never to be for an indefinite period and the detainee could, if the administrative authority agreed, apply to the courts for release on bail (Regulation 11 (4) and the McElduff case, judgment of 12 October 1971). On the other hand, interim custody imposed under Article 4 of the Terrorists Order, or subsequently under paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to the Emergency Provisions Act, continued until adjudication by the commissioner; the Chief Constable invariably referred the case to him within the initial twenty-eight day time-limit but the commissioner gave his decision after several weeks or even after six months (see paragraphs 83, 86 and 88 above). 218. Individuals deprived of their liberty under Regulation 12 (1), Article 5 of the Terrorists Order or paragraph 24 of Schedule 1 to the Emergency Provisions Act were in many cases interned or detained for some years. Nevertheless, the advisory committee set up by Regulation 12 (1) afforded, notwithstanding its non-judicial character, a certain measure of protection that cannot be discounted. By establishing commissioners and an appeal tribunal, the Terrorists Order brought further safeguards which were somewhat strengthened by the Emergency Provisions Act (see paragraphs 84, 87 and 88 above). 219. There was in addition the valuable, if limited, review effected by the courts, when the opportunity arose, by virtue of the common law (see, for example, the McElduff case, judgment of 12 October 1971 on Regulations 11 (1) and 11 (2), the Moore case, judgment of 18 February 1972 on Regulation 10 and the Kelly case, judgment of 11 January 1973 on Regulations 11 (1), 11 (2) and 12 (1); paragraphs 81-84 above). 220. An overall examination of the legislation and practice at issue reveals that they evolved in the direction of increasing respect for individual liberty. The incorporation right from the start of more satisfactory judicial, or at least administrative, guarantees would certainly have been desirable, especially as Regulations 10 to 12 (1) dated back to 1956-1957 and were made under an Act of 1922, but it would be unrealistic to isolate the first from the later phases. When a State is struggling against a public emergency threatening the life of the nation, it would be rendered defenceless if it were required to accomplish everything at once, to furnish from the outset each of its chosen means of action with each of the safeguards reconcilable with the priority requirements for the proper functioning of the authorities and for restoring peace within the community. The interpretation of Article 15 (art. 15) must leave a place for progressive adaptations. The Northern Ireland Government sought in the first place - unsuccessfully - to meet the most pressing problem, to stem the wave of violence that was sweeping the region. After assuming direct responsibility for the future of the province, the British Government and Parliament lost little time in moderating in certain respects the severity of the laws applied in the early days. The Court asked itself whether those laws should not have been attenuated even more, especially as regards interim custody (see paragraph 217 above), but does not consider that it can give an affirmative answer. It must not be forgotten that the crisis experienced at the time by the six counties was serious and, hence, of a kind that justified far-reaching derogations from paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 5 (art. 5-2, art. 5-3, art. 5-4). In view of the Contracting States ’ margin of appreciation, the Court does not find it established that the United Kingdom exceeded in this respect the "extent strictly required" referred to in Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1). 221. According to the applicant Government, the non-contested violations of Article 3 (art. 3) are relevant under Articles 5 and 15 (art. 15+5) taken together. They claim that deprivation of liberty was sometimes imposed on the strength of information extracted in conditions contrary to Article 3 (art. 3) and was thereby rendered unlawful under Article 15 (art. 15). The Irish argument is also said to be confirmed by the existence of those violations since they would probably have been prevented by the impugned legislation if it had afforded genuine guarantees to the persons concerned. The Court emphasises, as do the respondent Government and the Commission that Articles 3 and 5 (art. 3, art. 5) embody quite separate obligations. Moreover, the violations of Article 3 (art. 3) found in the present judgment fail to show that it was not necessary to apply the extrajudicial powers in force. 3. On the "other obligations under international law" 222. Article 15 para. 1 (art. 15-1) in fine prohibits any derogation inconsistent "with other obligations under international law". There is nothing in the data before the Court to suggest that the United Kingdom disregarded such obligations in this case; in particular, the Irish Government never supplied to the Commission or the Court precise details on the claim formulated or outlined on this point in their application of 16 December 1971. 4. On the observance of paragraph 3 of Article 15 (art. 15-3) 223. The Court finds proprio motu, in the light of its Lawless judgment of 1 July 1961 (Series A no. 3, pp. 61-62, para. 47), that the British notices of derogation dated 20 August 1971, 23 January 1973 and 16 August 1973 (see paragraphs 80, 85 and 88 above) fulfilled the requirements of Article 15 para. 3 (art. 15-3). 5. Conclusion 224. The Court has accordingly come to the conclusion that, since the requirements of Article 15 (art. 15) were met, the derogations from Article 5 (art. 5) were not, in the circumstances of the case, in breach of the Convention. C. On Article 14 taken together with Article 5 (art. 14+5) 225. Article 14 (art. 14) provides: "The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status." Before 5 February 1973, the extrajudicial powers were employed only against persons suspected of engaging in, or of possessing information about, IRA terrorism; later on, they were also utilised, but to a far lesser extent, against supposed Loyalist terrorists. According to the applicant Government, the circumstances of the case show that the United Kingdom thereby followed a policy or practice of discrimination. 226. The principal submission of the Irish Government is that it would not be correct to apply here the criteria used by the Court, in the field of Article 14 (art. 14) since its judgment of 23 July 1968 on the merits of the "Belgian Linguistic" case (Series A no. 6, pp. 34-35, para. 10). The Government ’ s argument runs as follows: those criteria are applicable only where a respondent State admits having introduced a difference of treatment and where that difference is expressly permitted by legislation; however, the British Government pleaded before the Commission not the existence of an "objective and reasonable justification" but rather the complete absence of such a difference, and the inequalities found in the report of 25 January 1976 arose from the mere application of laws which themselves created no inequalities; therefore the Commission was in error in applying those criteria; the Court should depart therefrom and rely on a number of inferences which, in the applicant Government ’ s view, indicate that those inequalities were discriminatory. The Court ’ s case-law does not, in fact, make the distinctions which the Irish Government seek to draw therefrom. That case-law was confirmed by the Court when, for example, it examined under Article 14 (art. 14) claims relating, like those in the present case, to the mere application of a law (Swedish Engine Drivers ’ Union judgment of 6 February 1976, Series A no. 20, p. 17, paras. 45 in fine and 46; Schmidt and Dahlström judgment of 6 February 1976, Series A no. 21, p. 17, paras. 39 in fine and 40; Engel and others judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 42, paras. 102 in fine, and 103 in fine; Handyside judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 24, pp. 30-31, para. 66). The Court sees no reason for departing from that case-law on this occasion. 227. The applicant Government submits, in the alternative, that the difference of treatment in question lacked an "objective and reasonable justification". 228. Before ruling on this submission, the Court must examine why, as early as 1971, Loyalist terrorism was not fought with the same weapons as Republican terrorism (see paragraphs 37-38 above). The Court finds that there were profound differences between Loyalist and Republican terrorism. At the time in question, the vast majority of murders, explosions and other outrages were attributable to Republicans. Although Loyalists had begun towards 1963 to perpetrate acts of violence, reaching a high level in 1969 when the IRA was scarcely in evidence (see paragraphs 20-28 above), since 1970 the scale of their activities had been minute in comparison with those of the IRA (see paragraphs 29-32, 37, 45 and 47 above). In the second place, the IRA, with its far more structured organisation, constituted a far more serious menace than the Loyalist terrorists. In 1970 and 1971 the Protestant community included political pressure groups with extremist tendencies, but apparently concealed within its ranks no underground military force akin to the IRA. At that time Loyalist terrorism was seen by the authorities as the sporadic work of individuals or isolated factions (see paragraph 37 above). Lastly, it was as a general rule easier to institute criminal proceedings against Loyalist terrorists than against their Republican counterparts and the former were frequently brought before the courts. Accordingly, although Loyalist terrorists were not extra judicially deprived of their liberty, they do not seem to have been able to act with impunity. 229. The later period ( 30 March 1972 - 4 February 1973 ) gives rise to delicate questions. When assuming direct rule of the province (30 March 1972), the United Kingdom Government and Parliament wished, amongst other things, to combat the discrimination long prevalent there in the area of electoral rights, employment, housing, etc., in the hope of reaching an equitable solution to the Northern Ireland problem (see paragraphs 50, 60 and 77 above). However, this approach did not have a consequence which might have been expected, namely a complete equality of treatment between the two categories of terrorists in the exercise of the special powers. Shortly after 30 March 1972, there was a spectacular increase in Loyalist terrorism. Furthermore, the UVF proved to have increased its membership, expanded its holding of arms and improved its organisation. Towards the middle of the year, the police as a general rule had reasonably good intelligence as to the identity of violent elements on the Protestant side but there were cases in which it was impossible to procure sufficient evidence to bring them before the courts. Nevertheless, about ten months elapsed before the first two Loyalists were extra judicially deprived of their liberty (see paragraphs 52-53, 57, 61-62 and 66 above). Several explanations for what is at first sight a surprising time-lag are advanced by the respondent Government and the Commission, for example the three combined facts that it had been decided to attempt the phasing-out of internment, that the IRA were still responsible for the great majority of serious acts of terrorism and that, broadly speaking, the ordinary criminal processes remained far more suited to the campaign against the Loyalist terrorists than to that against their Republican opponents (see paragraphs 50, 54-58, 61 and 63 above). The cause or causes behind the conduct of the Government and the security forces at the time cannot be determined with certainty from the evidence, but it seems beyond doubt that the reasons that had been influential before 30 March 1972 became less and less valid as time went on. However, the Court considers it unrealistic to carve into clear-cut phases a situation that was inherently changing and constantly evolving. The Court can understand the authorities ’ hesitating about the course to take, feeling their way and needing a certain time to try to adapt themselves to the successive demands of an ugly crisis. On the basis of the data before it, and bearing in mind the limits on its powers of review, the Court cannot affirm that, during the period under consideration, the United Kingdom violated Article 14, taken together with Article 5 (art. 14+5), by employing the emergency powers against the IRA alone. 230. To sump up, the aim pursued until 5 February 1973 – the elimination of the most formidable organisation first of all – could be regarded as legitimate and the means employed do not appear disproportionate. 231. 5 February 1973 marked a turning-point. Thereafter, extrajudicial deprivation of liberty was used to combat terrorism as such, as defined a few months previously by the 1972 Order, and no longer just a given organisation. In point of fact, the measures were not applied against Loyalist terrorists to anything like the same extent as against the IRA (see paragraph 69 above), but the IRA were still committing the majority of the acts of terrorism (see paragraph 67 above). Furthermore, Loyalist terrorists could still be brought before the courts more easily than their Republican counterparts. Criminal proceedings were opened against many of the former and often led to convictions, above all in one particular field – sectarian assassinations (see paragraphs 67, 70 and 76 above). The Court cannot reproach the United Kingdom for having attempted to avail itself as far as possible of this procedure under the ordinary law. Taking into account, as it must, the full range of the processes of the law applied in the campaign against the two categories of terrorists, the Court finds that the initial difference of treatment did not continue during the last period considered. 232. Accordingly, no discrimination contrary to Articles 14 and 5 (art. 14+5) taken together is established. III. ON ARTICLE 6 (art. 6) 233. The substance of further claims made by the applicant Government is that - the various powers concerning extrajudicial deprivation of liberty which were used in Northern Ireland from 9 August 1971 to March 1975 did not satisfy the conditions prescribed by Article 6 (art. 6); - those powers violated Article 6 (art. 6) since they were not in full conformity with the requirements of Article 15 (art. 15); - those powers were furthermore implemented with discrimination and consequently also violated Article 14 taken together with Article 6 (art. 14+6). 234. Article 6 (art. 6) provides as follows: "1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice. 2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. 3. Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights: (a) to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; (b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence; (c) to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require; (d) to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him; (e) to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court." 235. The applicability of Article 6 (art. 6) to the present case is a subject of controversy before the Court and is disputed by the respondent Government and the Commission. Argument has centred on whether there is room for the cumulative application of Articles 5 and 6 (art. 5, art. 6), whether the right to liberty is a "civil right" and whether the function of the commissioners and the appeal tribunal, under the Terrorists Order and the Emergency Provisions Act, was the "determination" of a "criminal charge". The Court does not consider it necessary to give a decision on this point. The applicant Government are complaining here of the same measures as under Article 5 (art. 5). However, assuming Article 6 (art. 6) to be material, the derogations from the guarantees of a judicial nature afforded by Article 5 (art. 5) perforce involved derogating from those afforded by Article 6 (art. 6). The Court has already held that the derogations from Article 5 (art. 5) met the requirements of Article 15 (art. 15) (see paragraph 224 above); in the circumstances of the case, it arrives at the same conclusion as regards the derogations from Article 6 (art. 6). In addition, the Court has held that no discrimination contrary to Articles 14 and 5 (art. 14+5) taken together is established (see paragraph 232 above); it likewise finds no discrimination with respect to Article 6 (art. 6). IV. ON ARTICLE 1 (art. 1) 236. The Irish Government ’ s submission is as follows: the laws in force in the six counties did not in terms prohibit violations of the rights and freedoms protected by Articles 3, 5, 6 and 14 (art. 3, art. 5, art. 6, art. 14); several of those laws, as well as certain administrative practices, even authorised or permitted such violations; the United Kingdom was thereby in breach, in respect of each of those Articles (art. 3, art. 5, art. 6, art. 14), of an inter-State obligation separate from its obligations towards individuals and arising from Article 1 (art. 1) which provides: "The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of [the] Convention." Neither the British Government nor the Commission in its report concur with this argument. They consider, briefly, that Article 1 (art. 1) cannot be the subject of a separate breach since it grants no rights in addition to those mentioned in Section I. 237. In their memorial of 26 October 1976, the respondent Government also stressed that the Commission had accepted only one of the two issues raised by this claim, namely the issue concerning administrative practices. The applicant Government replied that the issue of the legislative measures was also referred to in paragraph 7 of the reasons for the decision of 1 October 1972, that the operative provisions of that decision had not declared that issue inadmissible and that the Commission had examined it on the merits. The delegates expressed a similar opinion. At the hearings in February 1977, the British Government withdrew this preliminary plea in the light, inter alia, of the Handyside judgment of 7 December 1976 (Series A no. 24, pp. 19-20, para. 41). The Court takes note of this withdrawal; it does not consider that it has to give a ruling on a question which does not concern public order ( ordre public), which apparently was not raised before the Commission (De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, p. 30, para. 54) and which, anyway, appears to have been overtaken by events. 238. Article 1 (art. 1), together with Articles 14, 2 to 13 and 63 (art. 14, art. 2, art. 3, art. 4, art. 5, art. 6, art. 7, art. 8, art. 9, art. 10, art. 11, art. 12, art. 13, art. 63), demarcates the scope of the Convention ratione personae, materiae and loci; it is also one of the many Articles that attest the binding character of the Convention. Article 1 (art. 1) is drafted by reference to the provisions contained in Section I and thus comes into operation only when taken in conjunction with them; a violation of Article 1 (art. 1) follows automatically from, but adds nothing to, a breach of those provisions; hitherto, when the Court has found such a breach, it has never held that Article 1 (art. 1) has been violated ( Neumeister judgment of 27 June 1968, Series A no. 8, p. 41, para. 15, and p. 44; judgment of 23 July 1968 on the merits of the "Belgian Linguistic" case, Series A no. 6, pp. 70 in fine and 87, para. 1; Stögmüller judgment of 10 November 1969, Series A no. 9, p. 45; De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, p. 43, para. 80, and p. 47, para. 4; Ringeisen judgment of 16 July 1971, Series A no. 13, p. 45, para. 109 in fine, and p. 46, paras. 5-6; Golder judgment of 21 February 1975, Series A no. 18, p. 20, para. 40 in fine, p. 22, para. 45 in fine, and p. 23, paras. 1-2; Engel and others judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 29, para. 69 in fine, p. 37, para. 89 in fine, and p. 45, paras. 4, 5 and 11). 239. However, the Irish Government ’ s argument prompts the Court to clarify the nature of the engagements placed under its supervision. Unlike international treaties of the classic kind, the Convention comprises more than mere reciprocal engagements between contracting States. It creates, over and above a network of mutual, bilateral undertakings, objective obligations which, in the words of the Preamble, benefit from a "collective enforcement". By virtue of Article 24 (art. 24), the Convention allows Contracting States to require the observance of those obligations without having to justify an interest deriving, for example, from the fact that a measure they complain of has prejudiced one of their own nationals. By substituting the words "shall secure" for the words "undertake to secure" in the text of Article 1 (art. 1), the drafters of the Convention also intended to make it clear that the rights and freedoms set out in Section I would be directly secured to anyone within the jurisdiction of the Contracting States (document H (61) 4, pp. 664, 703, 733 and 927). That intention finds a particularly faithful reflection in those instances where the Convention has been incorporated into domestic law (De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp judgment of 18 June 1971, Series A no. 12, p. 43, para. 82; Swedish Engine Drivers ’ Union judgment of 6 February 1976, Series A no. 20, p. 18, para. 50). The Convention does not merely oblige the higher authorities of the Contracting States to respect for their own part the rights and freedoms it embodies; as is shown by Article 14 (art. 14) and the English text of Article 1 (art. 1) ("shall secure"), the Convention also has the consequence that, in order to secure the enjoyment of those rights and freedoms, those authorities must prevent or remedy any breach at subordinate levels. 240. The problem in the present case is essentially whether a Contracting State is entitled to challenge under the Convention a law in abstracto. The answer to this problem is to be found much less in Article 1 (art. 1) than in Article 24 (art. 24). Whereas, in order to be able to lodge a valid petition, a "person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals" must, under Article 25 (art. 25), claim "to be the victim of a violation ... of the rights set forth", Article 24 (art. 24) enables each Contracting State to refer to the Commission "any alleged breach of [any of] the provisions of the Convention by another [State]". Such a "breach" results from the mere existence of a law which introduces, directs or authorises measures incompatible with the rights and freedoms safeguarded; this is confirmed unequivocally by the travaux préparatoires (document H (61) 4, pp. 384, 502, 703 and 706). Nevertheless, the institutions established by the Convention may find a breach of this kind only if the law challenged pursuant to Article 24 (art. 24) is couched in terms sufficiently clear and precise to make the breach immediately apparent; otherwise, the decision of the Convention institutions must be arrived at by reference to the manner in which the respondent State interprets and applies in concreto the impugned text or texts. The absence of a law expressly prohibiting this or that violation does not suffice to establish a breach since such a prohibition does not represent the sole method of securing the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms guaranteed. 241. In the present case, the Court has found two practices in breach of Article 3 (art. 3) (see paragraphs 168 and 174 above). Those practices automatically infringed Article 1 (art. 1) as well, but this is a finding which adds nothing to the previous finding (see paragraph 238 above) and which there is no reason to include in the operative provisions of this judgment. Examination in abstracto of the legislation in force at the relevant time in Northern Ireland reveals that it never introduced, directed or authorised recourse to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment. On the contrary, it forbade any such ill-treatment in increasingly clear terms (see paragraphs 134-136 above). More generally, as from the end of August 1971 the higher authorities in the United Kingdom took a number of appropriate steps to prevent or remedy the individual violations of Article 3 (art. 3) (see paragraphs 99-101, 133 and 137-143 above). 242. With regard to Article 14 taken together with Articles 15, 5 and 6 (art. 14+15, art. 14+5, art. 14+6), the applicant Government do not challenge the legislation as such. Moreover, it did not introduce, direct or authorise any discrimination in the exercise of the extrajudicial powers. The claim concerns only the legislation ’ s application, in respect of which the Court has not found any violation (see paragraphs 228-232 and 235 above). 243. As for Article 15 taken together with Articles 5 and 6 (art. 15+5, art. 15+6), on the other hand, the legislation itself is criticised by the Irish Government. Certain aspects of the legislation do give rise to doubts. Neither Regulations 11 (1) and 11 (2), nor Article 4 of the Terrorists Order, nor paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to Emergency Provisions Act set any limit on the duration of the deprivation of liberty they authorised. Furthermore, they did not afford to the persons concerned any judicial or administrative remedy beyond the restricted right to apply for bail, a right that was moreover abolished on 7 November 1972 with the revocation of Regulation 11 (4) (see paragraphs 82, 83 and 85 above). These provisions differed, on the first point, from Regulation 10 (forty-eight hours) and section 10 of the Emergency Provisions Act (seventy-two hours) and, on the second, from Regulation 12 (1) (advisory committee), Article 6 of the Terrorists Order (appeal tribunal) and paragraphs 26 to 34 of Schedule 1 to the Emergency Provisions Act (idem). The first-mentioned shortcoming resulted, however, from the mere silence of the legislation and was mitigated in practice (maximum of seventy-two hours for Regulation 11 (1) and, in general, twenty-eight days for Regulation 11 (2)). The second shortcoming appears more serious, especially as regards Regulation 11 (2), Article 4 of the Terrorists Order and paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to the Emergency Provisions Act; preferably, it should have been avoided. However, the deficiency was in part made good by the ordinary courts of the province by virtue of the common law (the McElduff case, judgment of 12 October 1971, and the Kelly case, judgment of 11 January 1973, Regulations 11 (1) and (2)). Above all, one is dealing with special legislation designed to combat a public emergency threatening the life of the nation; such provisions cannot be torn out of context without leading to arbitrary results. It was hardly possible for this legislation to forecast in a rigid and inflexible manner the frontiers of the demands of an inherently fluid and changing situation; the massive scale of the outrages and the large number of the persons arrested, detained and interned prevented the provision of guarantees similar to those required by the Convention. In 1972 and 1973, the British authorities attenuated the severity of the original legislation, thereby demonstrating their concern not to go beyond the "extent strictly required by the exigencies" of the circumstances. On this, a question of fact rather than of law, the said authorities enjoyed a margin of appreciation which they do not seem to have exceeded. Here again, the Court considers that it would be unrealistic to isolate the first from the later phases (see paragraphs 220, first sub-paragraph, and 229, sixth sub-paragraph, above); as regards the legislation as such, the Court does not feel able to arrive at conclusions conflicting with its decision on the application of that legislation (see paragraphs 214 and 220 above). Accordingly, on this issue no breach of Articles 5, 6 (art. 5, art. 6) - assuming the latter Article (art. 6) to be applicable in this case (see paragraph 235 above) - and 15, taken together with Articles 1 and 24 (art. 15+1, art. 15+24), is found to be established. V. ON ARTICLE 50 (art. 50) 244. Under Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention, if the Court finds, as in the present case, "that a decision or a measure taken" by any authority of a Contracting State "is completely or partially in conflict with the obligations arising from the ... Convention, and if the internal law of the said [State] allows only partial reparation to be made for the consequences of this decision or measure", the Court "shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party". The Rules of Court specify that when the Court "finds that there is a breach of the Convention, it shall give in the same judgment a decision on the application of Article 50 (art. 50) of the Convention if that question, after being raised under Rule 47 bis, is ready for decision; if the question is not ready for decision, the [Court] shall reserve it in whole or in part and shall fix the further procedure" (Rule 50 para. 3, first sentence, read in conjunction with Rule 48 para. 3). 245. The President, acting on behalf of the Court, instructed the Registrar to ask the Agent of the Irish Government to indicate "as soon as possible whether it would be correct to assume, particularly in the light" of certain passages in the Commission ’ s decision on the admissibility of the application and in the verbatim report of the public hearings held in February 1977, "that [his] Government [were not inviting] the Court, should it find a violation of the Convention, to afford just satisfaction within the meaning of Article 50 (art. 50)". This the Registrar did by letter of 8 August 1977. On 14 October 1977, the Agent of the applicant Government replied as follows: "... the applicant Government, while not wishing to interfere with the de bene esse jurisdiction of the Court, have not as an object the obtaining of compensation for any individual person and do not invite the Court to afford just satisfaction under Article 50 (art. 50), of the nature of monetary compensation, to any individual victim of a breach of the Convention. ..." 246. The Court accordingly considers that it is not necessary to apply Article 50 (art. 50) in the present case.
The Court noted that in this matter Article 15 of the Convention left a wide margin of appreciation to States. It fell in the first place to each State, with its responsibility for "the life of [its] nation", to determine whether that life was threatened by a "public emergency" and, if so, how far it was necessary to go in attempting to overcome the emergency. By reason of their direct and continuous contact with the pressing needs of the moment, the national authorities were in principle in a better position than the international judge to decide both on the presence of such an emergency and on the nature and scope of derogations necessary to avert it. Nevertheless, the States did not enjoy an unlimited power in this respect and the Court thus had to ascertain whether they had gone beyond the "extent strictly required by the exigencies" of the crisis. In this case the Court did not find it established, having regard to the margin of appreciation afforded to Contracting States, that the United Kingdom had exceeded the "extent strictly required" by the exigencies of the situation, within the meaning of Article 15 § 1 de la Convention.