Universal-MigrationHRlaw-PG-no-6-Publications-PractitionersGuide-2014-eng

MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW | 217
d) Right of access to UNHCR
Persons seeking asylum have the right, following detention, “to contact
and be contacted by the local UNHCR Office, available national refugee
bodies or other agencies and an advocate. The right to communicate
with these representatives in private, and the means to make such contact
should be made available.” 831 They should be informed of this right
promptly following detention, as it is established by the UN Body of
Principles for the Protection of all Persons Deprived of their liberty. 832 The
Council of Europe Guidelines on Accelerated Asylum Procedures also affirm
that this right must be applied in accelerated asylum procedures. 833
e) Right to consular access
Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963
(VCCA) provides for the right of non-nationals to consular access while
held in any form of detention. It protects:
• the right to communicate freely and have access to consular
officers; 834
• the right of a detainee to have the fact of his or her detention
or arrest communicated to the consular officers, if he or she so
requests;
• the right to have their communication forwarded to them without
delay;
• the right to be informed of his or her rights of communication with
consular officers without delay; 835
• the right to refuse action or assistance by consular officers. 836
The International Court of Justice has held that, despite the fact that the
Convention deals with obligations between States, the right to consular
access is a right of the individual. 837 The Court has ruled that “the duty
831 UNHCR Guidelines on Detention, op. cit., fn. 633, Guideline 7(vii). See, WGAD, Annual
Report 1998, op. cit., fn. 643, Guarantee 14; WGAD, Annual Report 1999, op. cit., fn. 643,
Principle 10, which include also the International Committee of the Red Cross and specialized
NGOs.
832 Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Deprived of their Liberty, Principle 16.2.
833 European Guidelines on accelerated asylum procedures, CMCE, op. cit., fn. 119, Principle
XIV.
834 See this rights also in WGAD, Annual Report 1998, op. cit., fn. 643, para. 69, Guarantee 6;
WGAD, Annual Report 1999, op. cit., fn. 643, Principle 2.
835 Article 36.1(b), Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) (contains all the last three
rights).
836 Article 36.1(c) VCCR.
837 LeGrand (Germany v. United States of America), ICJ, Judgment, 27 June 2001, ICJ Reports
2001, p. 466, p. 494, para. 77.