However, the NPM reports that they had not been receiving any replies of information on
whether and what activities are underway or planned to upgrade forensic psychiatry in
Slovenia.
Other issues regarding the Forensic Psychiatry Unit the NPM has been reporting on:
•
Overcrowding - This is a systemic issue that has remained unresolved for many
years and the NPM has been warning about it ever since the opening of the
unit.110
•
Insufficient number of judicial police officers in the Unit, which has a significant
impact on the safety of patients and staff, and also prevents patients from staying
outdoors sufficiently. The need to carry out security checks on newly admitted
patients would make it essential to recruit at least one female judicial police
officer.111
•
Implementation of special protective measures - Often, the premises used for
physical restraint are inadequate, as they do not provide sufficient privacy for the
restrained patient, and, due to staffing constraints, there is not always a
guarantee of constant (continuous) supervision of the restrained patient.112
Unfortunately, in our research, we did not have the opportunity to collect first-hand
experiences of people undergoing security measures in the forensic unit, but the
interviewed lawyer pointed out that persons feel a lot of pressure, as any non-compliant
behaviour results in stronger medication; and that people do not have the option to
refuse medication - refusing it will only result in stronger medication.113
It is worth mentioning that in the past, Slovenia has had on open forensic unit Department of Forensic and Social Psychiatry (DFSP) of the University Psychiatric Hospital
in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which was an open institution organized as a therapeutic
community and has had a psychotherapeutic and rehabilitative orientation. It offered
treatment for „psychotic offenders, prisoners, and people with socially accentuated
110
Varuh človekovih pravic (2022), Letno poročilo Državnega preventivnega mehanizma za leto
2021, Ljubljana, Varuh človekovih pravic, p. 45.
111
Varuh človekovih pravic (2022), Letno poročilo Državnega preventivnega mehanizma za leto
2021, Ljubljana, Varuh človekovih pravic, p. 22.
112
Ibid.
113
Interview with a lawyer.
39
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