20 NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2016 The right to information All persons who are deprived of their liberty have a right to and need for good, understandable information. Access to quality information allows detainees to play an active role in safeguarding their own rights, in particular the right to effective remedy. It is therefore important to ensure that necessary information has been received and understood. Good, up-to-date and accessible information can increase the sense of security and prevent both frustration and the risk of ill-treatment. National rules and guidelines,¹ binding conventions under international law² and recommendations from international monitoring bodies³ underline how important it is for persons deprived of their liberty to receive the information they need and have a right to. During the period 2014–2016, the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) made 29 visits to police custody facilities, prisons, immigration detention centres, child welfare institutions and mental health care institutions for children and adults. In connection with its visits, the Parliamentary Ombudsman investigated whether those deprived of their liberty received information about their rights and about procedures and rules that they need to understand to adapt to life at the institution. Another focus area has been whether everyone, regardless of language skills, has received the necessary information in a language they understand. Police custody facilities The NPM visited six police custody facilities during the period 2014–2016. Based on evidence collected during these visits, the NPM made recommendations related to the right to information. According to the law, detainees shall be informed as soon as possible about the grounds for detention, and about their rights and duties.4 The Parliamentary Ombudsman recommended to all custody facilities that detainees be provided with both written and oral information about their rights, in a language they understand, as soon as possible after their detention. It has also been specified that this should be documented in the custody log. Further it has been recommended that all detainees sign a declaration confirming that they have been informed about their rights in a language they understand. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) made a similar recommendation after its visit to Norway in 2011.5 The Norwegian authorities replied that they would follow up the recommendation. None of the police custody facilities that the NPM visited during the period 2014–2016 had procedures to follow up the CPT recommendation. 1 See, inter alia: The Regulations relating to police custody facilities Section 2-10, Guidelines to the Execution of Sentences Act Sections 3.4 and 4.1(a), the Patient and User Rights Act Section 3-2, the Regulations relating to rights and the use of force in child welfare institutions Section 7. Circular Q-19/2012 Guidelines to Regulations of 15 November 2011 relating to rights and the use of force in child welfare institutions (the Rights Regulations). 2 The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 9 (2), the European Convention on Human Rights Article 5 (2). 3 See, inter alia, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Article 35; CPT Standards, p. 8, paragraph 16. The UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the Havana Rules) IV B. The European Prison Rules, Rule 30.1. The Bangkok Rules, Rule 2, and the Mandela Rules, Rules 54 and 55. 4 The Regulations relating to police custody facilities Section 2-10, and the Norwegian Police Directorate’s circular 2006/14, Section 6. 5 The CPT’s visit to Norway, CPT/Inf (2011) 33, page 14, paragraph 17.