AUAD v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT IV. ALLEGED VIOLATION CONVENTION OF ARTICLE 43 5 § 1 OF THE 124. The applicant complained that his detention had ceased to be justified and had become arbitrary. He relied on Article 5 § 1 (f) of the Convention, which provides as follows: “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: ... (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.” A. The parties’ submissions 125. The Government submitted that the law governing detention pending deportation was fully Convention-compliant. It also met the requirements of Directive 2008/115/EC on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals. Those standards had been fully observed in the applicant’s case. His placement in the detention facility had been reviewed by an independent body, as the applicant had sought judicial review of the order for his detention by the Sofia Administrative Court. In the course of the proceedings the authorities had produced documents showing the grounds for taking the impugned measure. The applicant, who had been legally represented, had been able to contest the authorities’ assertions. After reviewing the legality of the detention order, the court had rejected his application. 126. The applicant submitted that there was no indication that the authorities had been actively pursuing his expulsion or that it was at all possible. The only thing that the authorities had done had been to contact the Lebanese embassy in Sofia with a view to obtaining travel documents for the applicant to allow him to enter Lebanon. They had not tried to contact the embassies of any safe third countries. In the applicant’s view, detention pending deportation should be allowed to reach the maximum eighteen-month period allowed by law only in exceptional cases.