deportation, or without having been given a fair opportunity to refute these charges […].” 419 367. Lastly, Immigration Regulations No. 279 of 1939 (supra para. 189), in force at the time of the facts, required a complete investigation to be conducted, whenever there were indications of a violation of the Immigration Act, based on which, if pertinent, the Immigration Inspector could request the Director General of Immigration to issue an arrest warrant. The said request had to state the facts and indicate the specific reasons why the alien should be deported. 420 The regulation also indicated that, if the arrest warrant was issued: The Immigration Inspector shall summon the alien to be heard with regard to the charges set forth in the arrest warrant. The information on the alien shall be recorded on the G-1 form when he is heard, unless it has been recorded previously. […] If the alien does not accept any of the charges included in the warrant, evidence shall be sought to support the charges; then the alien shall be summoned again, and given another opportunity to speak as well as to submit evidence contesting his deportation.” 368. Nevertheless, the Court notes that the facts do not reveal that the deprivations of liberty of the members of the Jean, 421 Fils-Aimé 422 and Medina 423 families, as well as of Rafaelito Pérez Charles 424 and Bersson Gelin, 425 prior to their expulsion from Dominican territory to Haiti, were carried out in accordance with the procedure established by domestic law. Thus, they were illegal and violated Article 7(2) of the Convention. Furthermore, the detentions were not carried out in order to implement formal immigration proceedings. 426 It is obvious that the way in which the presumed victims were 419 According to article 13(e). In addition, according to Law No. 4658 of 1957, the deportation of an alien “who has committed any of the misdemeanors established in article 13” of Immigration Law No. 95, or “has committed a crime or offense the gravity of which, in the opinion of the respective court, warrants that penalty,” may also be ordered by the Dominican courts (article 1). In that case, the alien “may be arrested for up to three months by order of the competent prosecutor (article 2). 420 In this regard, it indicates: “[i]f the arrest warrant is issued, the Immigration Inspector shall summon the alien to be heard with regard to the charges set forth in the arrest warrant. The information on the alien shall be recorded on the ‘G-1 form’[…]. If the alien does not accept any of the charges included in the warrant, evidence shall be sought to support the charges; then the alien shall be summoned again, and he shall be given another opportunity to speak, as well as to submit evidence contesting his deportation.” 421 The Jean family consisting, at the time of the events, of Victor Jean, Marlene Mesidor, the girls Victoria Jean (deceased) and Natalie Jean, and the boys Miguel Jean and Markenson, who, in December 2000, at around 7.30 a.m., were arrested by State agents in their home, made to get into a bus and taken to Haitian territory, where they arrived at around 5 p.m. (supra paras. 222 and 223). 422 First Jeanty Fils-Aimé, and then the rest of the family, Janise Midi and their daughter Diane Fils-Aimé and their sons Antonio Fils-Aimé and Endry Fils-Aimé, were detained and taken to the “Pedernales garrison,” and then expelled to Haiti at around 8 p.m. (supra paras. 209 and 210). 423 The Medina family, consisting of Willian Medina Ferreras, the boy Luis Ney Medina, and the girls Awilda Medina and Carolina Isabel Medina (deceased), Dominican nationals with official documentation, and Lilia Jean Pierre, a Haitian national, were arrested in November 1999 or January 2000 in their home and taken to a prison in Oviedo, where they remained until they were expelled to Haiti (supra paras. 200 and 201). 424 Mr. Pérez Charles was arrested on July 24, 1999, by immigration agents and taken to a detention center where he remained for a short time. He was then taken to Jimaní, from where he was expelled to Haitian territory (supra para. 221). 425 Mr. Gelin was arrested on December 5, 1999, and then expelled to Haiti (supra para. 213). 426 To the contrary, the Court observes that the said deprivations of liberty were not formally justified or recorded. The State has not proved, in any of these cases, that the deprivations of liberty of the presumed victims were carried out based on a written and reasoned order issued by a competence authority, as required by article 8.2.b) of the 1994 Constitution. As for the requirements of the immigration norms, the State has not proved that, in any of these cases, immigration proceedings were underway and that, with regard to the said persons, a complete investigation had been conducted into a possible violation of immigration laws, or that an arrest warrant had been requested or issued, as established in section 13 of Immigration Regulations No. 279. In addition, at no time during the deprivation of liberty were the presumed victims brought before a competent 119