CCPR/C/GC/35 the delay may reflect the changing nature of the proceeding and in any event must not be excessive.149 VI. The right to compensation for unlawful or arbitrary arrest or detention 49. Paragraph 5 of article 9 of the Covenant provides that anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation. Like paragraph 4, paragraph 5 articulates a specific example of an effective remedy for human rights violations, which States parties are required to afford. Those specific remedies do not replace, but are included alongside, the other remedies that may be required in a particular situation for a victim of unlawful or arbitrary arrest or detention by article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant.150 Whereas paragraph 4 provides a swift remedy for release from ongoing unlawful detention, paragraph 5 clarifies that victims of unlawful arrest or detention are also entitled to financial compensation. 50. Paragraph 5 obliges States parties to establish the legal framework within which compensation can be afforded to victims, as a matter of enforceable right and not as a matter of grace or discretion. The remedy must not exist merely in theory, but must operate effectively and payment must be made within a reasonable period of time. Paragraph 5 does not specify the precise form of procedure, which may include remedies against the State itself or against individual State officials responsible for the violation, so long as they are effective.151 Paragraph 5 does not require that a single procedure be established providing compensation for all forms of unlawful arrest, but only that an effective system of procedures exist that provides compensation in all the cases covered by paragraph 5. Paragraph 5 does not oblige States parties to compensate victims sua sponte, but rather permits them to leave commencement of proceedings for compensation to the initiative of the victim.152 51. Unlawful arrest and detention within the meaning of paragraph 5 include such arrest and detention arising within either criminal or non-criminal proceedings, or in the absence of any proceedings at all.153 The “unlawful” character of the arrest or detention may result from violation of domestic law or violation of the Covenant itself, such as substantively arbitrary detention and detention that violates procedural requirements of other paragraphs of article 9.154 However, the fact that a criminal defendant was ultimately acquitted, at first 149 150 151 152 153 154 1752/2008, J.S. v. New Zealand, paras. 6.3–6.4 (finding periods of eight days at first instance, three weeks at second instance, and two months at third instance satisfactory in context). General comment No. 31, paras. 16 and 18; 238/1987, Bolaños v. Ecuador, para. 10; 962/2001, Mulezi v. Democratic Republic of the Congo, para. 7. See concluding observations: Cameroon (CCPR/C/CMR/CO/4, 2010), para. 19; Guyana (CCPR/C/79/Add.121, 2000), para. 15; United States of America (A/50/40, 1995), para. 299; Argentina (A/50/40, 1995), para. 153; 1885/2009, Horvath v. Australia, para. 8.7 (discussing effectiveness of remedy); 1432/2005, Gunaratna v. Sri Lanka, para. 7.4; general comment No. 32, para. 52 (requirement of compensation for wrongful convictions). 414/1990, Mika Miha v. Equatorial Guinea, para. 6.5; 962/2001, Mulezi v. Democratic Republic of the Congo, para. 5.2. 754/1997, A. v. New Zealand, paras. 6.7 and 7.4; 188/1984, Martínez Portorreal v. Dominican Republic, para. 11; 962/2001, Mulezi v. Democratic Republic of the Congo, para. 5.2. 1128/2002, Marques de Morais v. Angola, para. 6.6; see also 328/1988, Zelaya Blanco v. Nicaragua, para. 10.3 (arbitrary detention); 728/1996, Sahadeo v. Guyana, para. 11 (violation of article 9, para. 3); R.2/9, Santullo Valcada v. Uruguay, para. 12 (violation of art. 9, para. 4). 15