III- Guarantees of necessary and equitable remedies 66. In order to guarantee effective remedies for all citizens against any kind of offense, the Tunisian court system is based on a set of principles including notably the equality of all citizens before the public justice system with no discrimination whatsoever. Furthermore, the free provision of justice had been strengthened by the suppression of the enrollment tax payable by institutions to the courts of the judicial system as well as all similar provisions relative to the right of defense provided for by Article 75 of the law of 7th September 1998 establishing the exercise of the profession of legal counsels. A) Jurisdictional Remedies a) The Courts of Common Law 67. The legislator has ceaselessly developed the possibilities of jurisdictional remedies. Pertaining to matters of compensation in favour of torture victims, the Criminal Procedure Code has, in its Article 1, proclaimed the principle according to which all offenses give rise to a public lawsuit with the objective of applying penalties and to a civil suit in compensation for any prejudice that may have been caused. The party that may have suffered an act of torture can initiate the lawsuit under its own responsibility. Nonetheless, it can also initiate a civil suit at the same time as that of the public lawsuit or independently before a civil court. The civil suit belongs to all those who have personnaly suffered damages caused directly by a breach of the law (Article 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code). 68. Should an individual wish to sue, his submission will be considered justified. The refusal to render justice, under whatever pretext, is considered as an offense of denial of justice (Article 108 of the Penal Code). 69. In order to sanction the right of the individual to go to court and to enable him to exercise this right, the free provision of justice had been strengthened by the removal of the right of enrolment with the law courts under the terms of the law n° 94-56 of 16th May 1994, establishing dispensation of the acts of arbitration from the formality of registration. 70. In the same vein, the office of controller Judge had been created in all of the Magistrates’ Courts. Towards this end, a Magistrate from the Public Prosecutor’s office is entrusted with the responsibility of providing the cititzen with the necessary information notably with regard to procedures. 71. Also to be noted is the promulgation of the law n° 2002-52 of 3rd June 2002, relative to the provision of legal assistance. A specialised Committee rules on the requests relating thereto. Its chair is assured by the Public Prosecutor’s Department within each Magistrates’ Court, assisted by a representative of the Bar Association and an official from the finance Department of the Public Service. This Committee grants, should the need arise, priority to the victims of abuse and ill treatment and can help them benefit from assistance which covers all procedural costs, including lawyers’ fees. 20