Chapter 5 • Human Rights and Arrest, Pre-Trial and Administrative Detention The Committee is also of the opinion that “the mere fact that the accused is a foreigner does not of itself imply that he may be held in detention pending trial”.168 Furthermore, “the mere conjecture of a State party that a foreigner might leave its jurisdiction if released on bail does not justify an exception to the rule laid down in” article 9(3); consequently, in a case where the State party provided no information to substantiate its concern that the accused would leave the country and as to “why it could not be addressed by setting an appropriate sum of bail and other conditions of release”, the Committee concluded that article 9(3) had been violated.169 ***** The European Court has emphasized that, “when the only remaining [reason] for continued detention is the fear that the accused will abscond and thereby subsequently avoid appearing for trial, his release pending trial must be ordered if it is possible to obtain from him guarantees that will ensure such appearance”; where, however, the accused person has not acted in such way as to suggest that he would be prepared to furnish such guarantees and where, moreover, the judicial authorities cannot be criticized for the conduct of the case, the Court has concluded that there has been no violation of article 5(3) of the Convention.170 A person detained on a criminal charge has the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. The reasonableness of pre-trial detention is assessed in the light of all circumstances of the particular case, such as: l the gravity of the offences; l the risk of absconding; l the risk of influencing witnesses and of collusion with co-defendants; l the detainee’s behaviour; l the conduct of the domestic authorities, including the complexity of the investigation. Whenever feasible, release should be granted pending trial, if necessary by ordering guarantees that the accused person will appear at his or her trial. Throughout detention the right to presumption of innocence must be guaranteed. 168 Ibid., loc. cit.; emphasis added. 169 Ibid. 170 Eur. Court HR, Wemhoff Case v. the Federal Republic of Germany, judgment of 27 June 1968, Series A, No. 7, p. 25, para. 15. 196 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers