IMPLEMENTATION UNDER NATIONAL LAW 2.5.2. ORDINARY IMPRISONMENT Persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities who have committed a criminal offence often find themselves serving a “regular sentence” in prisons within the general prison population. “Ordinary” imprisonment may happen if the person is deemed to be criminally responsible either because no disability is detected at the pre-trial or trial stage or a disability is detected but is not deemed to have influenced the criminal legal capacity of the person concerned at the time of the commission of the offence so as to result in a negation of criminal responsibility. In the four countries (Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Italy) where diminished criminal legal capacity is determinable, “ordinary” imprisonment may also ensue, albeit with a possibly reduced sentence. In these four countries, the diminishment of criminal legal capacity begets a reduction in the sentence to be served. In all partner countries, if full criminal responsibility is found, a defendant – no matter if they have a disability or not – will receive a sentence and may serve imprisonment. Principally, this is aligned with the UNCRPD standards, provided there are certain procedural accommodations offered to persons with disabilities. However, in reality, persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities who are confined in ordinary prisons rarely receive adequate support and services (see Section 2.6.8). Most countries do not provide for special wards for persons with specific needs, such as persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. In Bulgaria, the head of the prison may establish separate wards for certain categories of detainees, namely “persons with a high degree of public danger, suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction, persons with mental disorders or vulnerable persons with a view to their safety, as well as the safety of other prisoners and prison employees as well.”179 56 Intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities are often not detected in the penal system and prisons often do not provide adequate treatment services and accommodations. Instead, such detainees may be isolated and segregated in an effort to manage security concerns (see Section 2.6.4). Generally, the research has shown that in all countries observed there is a large number of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities within the general prison population. Estimations of the rates of serious psychiatric conditions in prison vary within and between countries (due to the difficulties in collecting precise data, see Section 2.1.2), but figures are undoubtedly high. Similarly high are the rates of prescription of psychotropic medications (see Section 2.6.8), indicating high levels of psychiatric conditions among the prison populations. For example, in Germany, it is estimated that approximately 40 to 70% of all detainees live with a mental health condition.180In Italy, estimates from the period between September 2021 and September 2022, show that around 40% of detainees regularly take psychotropic drugs.181 Notwithstanding the observation that pharmacological treatment may be overprescribed when the necessity is questionable (see Section 2.6.8), this indicates that within the general prison population, there are alarmingly high levels of detainees with mental health conditions serious enough to warrant treatment and experts throughout the project have stated that mental health treatment services in prison are far from adequate. In some countries (Germany, Slovenia and Italy), it is also possible for a court to impose a form of security measure to be served subsequently, after a person has finished serving (possibly) a reduced sentence of imprisonment in an ordinary prison. In Slovenia, when imposing a reduced sentence, the court will, by the same judgement, also impose a security measure of compulsory psychiatric treatment and confinement in a medical institution if it establishes that the conditions for such a measure under the Criminal Code are fulfilled.182

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