… unlawful detention: the Convention protects individuals against any arbitrary or unlawful detention.

In 2004, the Court found that there had been a violation of Article 5 in the Frommelt v. Liechtenstein case. Peter Frommelt was placed in pre-trial detention in 1997 on suspicion of offences including embezzlement and fraud. He alleged that there had been procedural shortcomings in the review of his pre-trial detention.

… arbitrary detention

In April 2004, the Court found that there had been a violation of Article 5 in the Assanidze v. Georgia case.  Tengiz Assanidze was formerly the mayor of Batumi and a member of the Supreme Council of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic. The applicant had been held in detention for more than three years after his acquittal by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2001. The Court found that the applicant had been arbitrarily detained and held that the Georgian State had to secure his release at the earliest possible date.  This judgment was the first by the Court ordering a state to release an applicant as soon as possible.