3.4.1.1 DETENTION Routine detention of individuals seeking protection on the grounds of statelessness is arbitrary. Statelessness, by its very nature, severely restricts access to basic identity and travel documents that nationals normally possess. Moreover, stateless persons are often without a legal residence in any country. Thus, an individual’s undocumented status or lack of necessary immigration permits cannot be used as a general justification for the detention of such persons.186 Article 9 of the ICCPR, guaranteeing the right to liberty and security of person, prohibits unlawful as well as arbitrary detention. For detention to be lawful, it must be regulated by domestic law, preferably with maximum limits set on such detention, and subject to periodic and judicial review. For detention not to be arbitrary, it must be necessary in each individual case, reasonable in all the circumstances, proportionate, and non-discriminatory. Indefinite as well as mandatory forms of detention are arbitrary per se.187 Detention is therefore a measure of last resort and can only be justified where other less invasive or coercive measures have been considered and found insufficient to safeguard the lawful governmental objective pursued by detention. Alternatives to detention – from reporting requirements or bail/bond systems to structured community supervision and/or case management programs – are part of any assessment of the necessity and proportionality of detention. General principles relating to detention apply a fortiori to children, who as a rule are not to be detained in any circumstances.188 The Lithuanian Law on the Legal Status of Aliens provides a list of seven grounds on which an alien, including a stateless person, may be detained:189 (1) in order to prevent the alien from entering the country without a permit; (2) unlawful entry or stay, except when the person has lodged an application for asylum; (3) in return procedures; (4) upon a suspected use of forged documents; (5) to facilitate the removal of the person pursuant to the EU Council Directive 2001/40/EC of 28 May 2010; (6) in order to prevent the spread of dangerous and particularly dangerous contagious diseases; or (7) when the person’s stay in Lithuania constitutes a threat to national security, public policy, or public health. The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania has ruled that these grounds for detention are inseparable from the legitimate purposes to restrict the alien’s freedom of movement.190 These purposes are: to ensure national security and public policy; to protect public health or morals; or to prevent crime or to safeguard the rights and freedoms of other persons.191 That is, if detention on the grounds outlined in the law does not fulfil one or more of the allowed purposes, it is unjustified. Detention of persons solely on the basis of their statelessness would be against national legal provisions. 186 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, para 112 (citing the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/13/30, 18 January 2010), at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/502e0fa62.html. In relation to stateless persons specifically, please see UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusion 106 (LV1) of 2006 on identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons, http://www.unhcr.org/453497302.html which “Calls on States not to detain stateless persons on the sole basis of their being stateless and to treat them in accordance with international human rights law… ” See ibid generally, paras 112-115. 187 UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, para. 112. 188 Ibid, para. 113. 189 Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Article 113 (1). In addition, Article 113 (2) addresses detention in connection to a return procedure, and Article 113 (4) deals with detention of asylum-seekers. 190 Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, judgments N-575-5928/2009 (28 May 2009), 62-4397/2010 (30 March 2010), N-62-4776-10 (23 April 2010), N-502-6566/2010 (12 August 2010). 191 Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Article 112. U N H C R S TO C K H O L M , M AY 2 0 1 6 51