Principle 6 The decision must be taken by a duly empowered authority with a sufficient level of responsibility and must be founded on criteria of legality established by the law. Principle 7 A maximum period should be set by law and the custody may in no case be unlimited or of excessive length. Principle 8 Notification of the custodial measure must be given in writing, in a language understood by the asylum-seeker or immigrant, stating the grounds for the measure; it shall set out the conditions under which the asylum-seeker or immigrant must be able to apply for a remedy to a judicial authority, which shall decide promptly on the lawfulness of the measure and, where appropriate, order the release of the person concerned. Principle 9 Custody must be effected in a public establishment specifically intended for this purpose; when, for practical reasons, this is not the case, the asylum-seeker or immigrant must be placed in premises separate from those for persons imprisoned under criminal law. Principle 10 The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and, where appropriate, duly authorized non-governmental organizations must be allowed access to the places of custody. What are the rights and obligations of persons recognized as stateless? There are some fundamental human rights that apply to all persons regardless of their status or the type of stay in a particular jurisdiction. These include, for example, the prohibition against torture and the principle of non-discrimination. Indeed, the 1954 Convention affirms that its provisions shall be applied to stateless persons “without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin” (Article 3). Every stateless person has the duty to conform to laws and regulations of the country in which he finds himself (Article 2). Assuming that this obligation is met, Article 7 (1) of the Convention sets out the basic level of protection to which a stateless person is entitled. It stipulates that, except in instances where the Convention explicitly contains more favorable treatment, “a Contracting State shall accord to stateless persons the same treatment as is accorded to aliens generally.” With respect to most of the rights enumerated in the 1954 Convention, stateless persons should have at least the same access to the rights and benefits as that guaranteed to aliens, particularly concerning gainful employment (Articles 17, 18, and 19), public education 23