9 Under Article 44(6) of the Law on foreign nationals, where a coercive administrative measure cannot be applied to a foreign national because his identity has not been established or because he is likely to go into hiding, the body which adopted the measure may order the foreign national to be placed in a detention centre for foreign nationals in order to enable his deportation from the Republic of Bulgaria or expulsion to be arranged. 10 Before the transposition of Directive 2008/115, detention in such a centre was not subject to any time-limit. 11 Now, under Article 44(8) of the Law on foreign nationals, ‘[t]he detention shall last as long as the circumstances set out in paragraph 6 above pertain but may not exceed six months. Exceptionally, where the person refuses to cooperate with the competent authorities, where there is a delay in obtaining the documents essential for deportation or expulsion, or where the person constitutes a threat to national security or public order, the period of detention may be extended to 12 months’. 12 Article 46a(3) to (5) of the Law on foreign nationals provide: ‘(3) Every six months the head of the detention centre for foreign nationals shall present a list of the foreign nationals who have been detained for more than six months owing to impediments to their removal from Bulgarian territory. The list is to be sent to the administrative court of the place where the detention centre is situated. (4) At the end of each period of six months’ detention in a detention centre, the court deliberating in private shall of its own motion determine whether the period of detention is to be extended, replaced, or terminated. No appeal shall lie against the court’s decision. (5) Where the court annuls the contested detention order or orders the foreign national to be released, the latter shall be immediately released from the detention centre.’ The main proceedings and the reference for a preliminary ruling 13 On 21 October 2006 a person was arrested by Bulgarian law enforcement officials near the border with Turkey. He had no identity documents and said that his name was Said Shamilovich Huchbarov, born on 11 February 1979 in Grozny (Chechnya). He stated that he did not wish the Russian consulate to be informed of his arrest. 14 By decree of 22 October 2006 of the competent police department, a coercive administrative measure of deportation was imposed on him. 15 He was placed in the detention centre on 3 November 2006, to be detained until it was possible to execute the decree, that is, until documents were obtained enabling him to travel abroad and sufficient funds guaranteed to purchase a ticket to Chechnya. The decree became enforceable on 17 April 2008, following judicial review proceedings. 16 On 14 December 2006 he declared to the authorities of the detention centre that his real name was not Huchbarov but Kadzoev. 17 In the course of two administrative proceedings before the Administrativen sad Sofiagrad, a birth certificate was produced showing that Mr Kadzoev was born on 11 February