CAT Persons deprived of their liberty in Poland still do not use, in practice, their fundamental legal guarantees from the moment of detention, such as quick access to a lawyer or attorney-at-law prior to the first hearing. The Committee recommends taking effective measures to ensure that all detained individuals have access to quick legal aid, including lawyers and attorneys-at-law on duty, provided by legal aid financed by the state prior to the first hearing59. The aforementioned systemic problem has already been brought to the attention of the Minster of Justice by the Commissioner for Human Rights60. Regrettably, since 2017 the Minister has failed to respond to the general interventions submitted by the Commissioner61. Placement in RDPs of persons detained for sobering-up The vast majority of persons who are arrive in RDPs are persons brought for sobering-up. This situation occurs due to the lack of sobering-up stations on the territory of particular communes and the lack of agreements between local self-government units and sobering-up stations located in neighboring areas. The lack of relevant systemic solutions results in the need to place such individuals in Police RDPs. The NMPT also observed situations when the local psychiatric hospital refused to admit intoxicated individuals who were apprehended in connection to a suspected suicide attempt due to their intoxication. Therefore, such persons had to be placed in RDPs and only after sobering up were they subjected to psychiatric observation. Such an occurrence entails high risk of dangerous situations, also for officers. In the opinion of the NMPT, RDPs are not prepared to care for intoxicated individuals. They do not, namely, employ a doctor who could provide emergency medical help in case the life or health of the detained is in danger. The responsibility for the safety of the above-mentioned individuals rests on the shoulders of police officers who, in case of emergency, are only capable of providing first aid and calling an ambulance in the hope for a quick and effective proper medical intervention. Such a solution, however, fails to fully guarantee the safety of the intoxicated and requires systemic changes. It also generates additional costs borne by the Police and associated with the provision of care to the intoxicated. Such costs result from, among others, the need to purchase bed linen, disinfect facilities. Furthermore, possible health problems of persons brought for sobering-up (e.g. epilepsy) and body reactions which are difficult to predict (e.g. vomiting) make the supervision over such individuals a hugely absorbing task for officers. Given the lack of relevant personnel this task is difficult to combine with other duties. 59 60 61 34 Cf. Committee against Torture, Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of Poland, 29 August 2019, CAT/C/POL/CO/7, Art. 15 and 16. Cf. General Intervention of the CHR to the Minister of Justice of 18 April 2017 and 27 September 2018, KMP.570.3.2017.RK. See more Part III of the Report – Difficulties with the execution of the NMPT’s mandate. PART IV – Situation in places of detention