OHCHR | Opinions adopted by the WGAD

Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

The regular procedure of a communication to the WGAD will trigger the adoption of an opinion of the WGAD as to the arbitrariness of the detention.

The WGAD issues approximately 70-90 opinions per year and all of these are adopted during its sessions. In each opinion, which is a public document (once adopted), the WGAD examines whether the situation presented is one of arbitrary detention and if so, the WGAD qualifies the situation under one or more of the five categories. It then recommends that the State take appropriate actions (usually the release of the individual) and may also ask for reparations (e.g. compensation) as well as guarantees of non-repetition.

Each opinion entails a follow-up section where the Government and the source are asked to respond within six months on the steps taken regarding the implementation of its recommendations. The WGAD may also invite other parties, such as civil society organizations, to provide further information on the implementation of the suggested measures.

Opinions adopted by the WGAD

To access all the opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, please visit the WGAD database, where you can search by date, category, region and symbol. To access the opinions in all six UN languages, please use the Official Document System of the United Nations

You can also visit the links below for the opinions adopted by the Working Group at each session.

Session	Dates	Opinions adopted
90^th	3-12 May 2021	Opinions adopted at the 90th session
89^th	23 - 27 November 2020	Opinions adopted at the 89th session
88^th	24 - 28 August 2020	Opinions adopted at the 88th session
87^th	27 April - 1 May 2020	Opinions adopted at the 87th session
86^th	18 - 22 November 2019	Opinions adopted at the 86th session
85^th	12 - 16 August 2019	Opinions adopted at the 85th session
84^th	24 April - 3 May 2019	Opinions adopted at the 84th session
83^rd	19 - 23 November 2018	Opinions adopted at the 83rd session
82^nd	20 - 24 August 2018	Opinions adopted at the 82nd session
81^st	17 - 26 April 2018	Opinions adopted at the 81st session
80^th	20 - 24 November 2017	Opinions adopted at the 80th session
79^th	21 - 25 August 2017	Opinions adopted at the 79th session
78^th	19 - 28 April 2017	Opinions adopted at the 78th session
77^th	21 - 25 November 2016	Opinions adopted at the 77th session
76^th	22 - 26 August 2016	Opinions adopted at the 76th session