their interests effectively and in conditions of full procedural defendants.221 equality with other c) Minimum guarantees for the alien subject to expulsion or deportation 160. In this regard, international bodies for the protection of human rights have all established the characteristics for proceedings carried out by States in order to expel or deport aliens from their territory. 161. Thus, in the universal system for the protection of human rights, the Human Rights Committee, when interpreting Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 222 established that “[t]he particular rights of article 13 only protect those aliens who are lawfully in the territory of a State party[.] However, if the legality of an alien's entry or stay is in dispute, any decision on this point leading to his expulsion or deportation ought to be taken in accordance with article 13.”223; That is, it must comply with the following guarantees: (a) an alien can only expelled in compliance with a decision reached in accordance with the law, and ((b) the alien must be empowered with the means to: (i) provide arguments against the expulsion (ii) submit his or her case before by the competent authority, and (ii) be heard and represented for such purpose before the competent authority. 162. In addition, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has considered:224 […] it is unacceptable to deport an individual without giving him or her an opportunity to argue his or her case before the competent domestic courts, since it is contrary to the spirit and letter of the African Charter on [Human and Peoples’ Rights] and international law. 163. Similarly, the International Law Commission has stated that aliens in a situation such as that of this case must receive the following procedural safeguards: (i) minimum detention conditions during the proceeding; (ii) to be able to provide reasons against the expulsion; (iii) consular assistance; (iv) legal advice; (v) the right to free assistance and interpretation, and (vi) the right to be notified of the expulsion decision and the right to appeal it. 225 164. In addition, the Court has emphasized the “importance of legal aid in cases […] involving an alien who may not know the country’s legal system and who is in a particularly vulnerable situation given the deprivation of liberty, which means that the recipient State must take into account the particular characteristics of the person’s situation, so that the 221 Cf. The Right to Information on Consular Assistance in the Framework of the Guarantees of Due Process of Law, supra, paras. 117 and 119; Case of Hilaire, Constantine and Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of June 21 2002. Series C No. 94, para. 146, and Case of Velez Loor v. Panama, supra, para. 143. 222 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 13: An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present Covenant may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person or persons especially designated by the competent authority. 223 Human Rights Committee. General Comment No. 15: The position of aliens under the Covenant. Approved at the twenty-seventh session. 1986. Para. 9. 224 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Communication No. 159/96, Ordinary Session No. 22 of 11 November 1997, para. 20. 225 Cf. International Law Commission. Expulsion of aliens. Text and titles of draft articles 1 to 32 provisionally adopted on first reading by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-fourth session. UN Doc. A/CN.4/L.797, 24 May 2012, Articles 19 and 26. 46