within two days. What raised CAT’s concern was, inter alia, the increased upper limit of penalty for some offences to 30 years of imprisonment or adjudication of life sentences without the possibility of conditional release. The Committee also devoted a lot of attention to procedural guarantees granted to the detained. Shortcomings in that regard included: failure to provide the detainee with the possibility to contact a lawyer prior to the the first interrogation, missing lists with lawyers performing the role of defense counsels in police units, limitations as regards communication between attorneys and legal advisors and detained persons as well as the lack of a central register of detainees. The CAT also expressed concern about cases of torture applied in police stations and the fact that the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure fails to specify the maximum period of temporary apprehension. Additionally, the Committee drew attention to the need to ensure living conditions that do not violate the dignity of the detained and the necessity to guarantee clinical independence of medical personnel in prisons. The CAT also referred to the situation of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. What was pointed out was insufficient financing provided to the NMPT resulting in limited possibilities to execute its mandate by the preventive mechanism. The Committee was also concerned about personal attacks on the Commissioner, particularly after the statement concerning the apprehension of Jakub A. in June 201918. At the same time the Committee obliged Polish authorities to provide information on measures taken in response to recommended actions. The deadline for the submission of that information is 9 August 2020. CPT VISIT Between 9-16 September the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) paid an ad hoc visit to Poland. It was the seventh visit of the Committee to Poland and the first of this type. Its objective was to check the implementation of long-standing recommendations of the CPT concerning the treatment of individuals in Police units. On 9 September the delegation met with the Commissioner for Human Rights, deputy CHR, representatives of the Criminal Law Team and members of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. The meeting was held in the Office of the CHR. Advisory activities General interventions According to Article 14(2) of the Act on the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commissioner may file a motion with an agency, organization or institution whose activity has been found to have caused an infringement of the liberties and rights of an individual and a citizen. In 2019, as the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, the CHR submitted 2 general interventions. 18 Detailed description of concluding observations: https://www.rpo.gov.pl/pl/content/komitet-onz-przeciwko-torturom-ocenil-polske-potrzeba-wielu-zmian. Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2019 21