Personal search, preventive search In connection with the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of 14 December 201764 concerning the inconsistency with the Constitution of the lack of statutory definitions of a body search and personal search on 14 December 2018 the Sejm amended the act on the Police. As a result of the amendment the notions of a personal search and preventive search65 have been precisely defined. Yet, what still needs to be amended are the implementing acts, including the regulation of the Minister of the Interior of 4 June 2012 on rooms for detained persons or intoxicated persons brought for sobering-up, transitional facilities and police emergency centers for children, as well as rules and regulations on the stay in such facilities and procedures for image recordings of those facilities in which the broadly defined search is performed. Currently, the lack of relevant legislative actions results in the inconsistency of legal regulations. Lack of legal measures to protect whistle-blowers Effective prevention of torture requires the creation of a relevant legal framework and institutional culture which would enable police officers to report cases of improper conduct of their colleagues without the risk of retaliation or imputation of disloyalty towards their occupational group. The visits of the NMPT demonstrated that the Police still lacks relevant procedures which would ensure that officers have a confidential and safe method for reporting cases of ill-treatment by other policemen. Theoretically, an officer may notify his/her supervisor about the incident or draw up a memo. However, that reporting method makes officers fear that their actions would be viewed as a sign of disloyalty and they may face possible, further consequences. The delegation of the NMPT was under the impression that the Police itself should take effort to build a proper institutional culture which will encourage officers to actively oppose inappropriate treatment and inform about cases of violence on duty. The need to provide legal protection to whistle-blowers and promote the culture acknowledging their vital role in the society is also emphasized by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe66, the European Parliament67 and non-governmental organizations. What is also noteworthy is the fact that on 26 November 2019 a directive of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons reporting violations of the EU law was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The directive entered into force on 16 December 2019. From that point on Poland has two years to transpose it to domestic legal regulations. 64 65 66 67 36 Cf. Ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of 14 December 2017, ref. K 17/14 (Journal of Laws [Dz. U.] of 2017, item 2405). Cf. Act of 14 December 2018 on the amendment of the Police act and several other acts (Journal of Laws [Dz. U.] of 2018, item 2399). Cf. Protection of whistleblowers: recommendation CM/Rec (2014)7 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 30 April 2014 and explanatory memorandum. Cf. European Parliament resolution of 24 October 2017 on legitimate measures to protect whistle-blowers acting in the public interest when disclosing the confidential information of companies and public bodies (2016/2224(INI)). PART IV – Situation in places of detention