Places visited by the National Preventive Mechanism in 2011 2.3. Police emergency centres for children Police emergency centres for children (hereinafter referred to as ECC or Centre) were established by the Minister of Interior and Administration in order to allow a temporary supervision over juveniles who are suspected of committing a crime and who are likely to hide or try to destroy evidence, or whose identity cannot be established. In reaction to the recommendations which the Human Rights Defender, acting as the National Preventive Mechanism113, put forward in the Report on the activities of the Mechanism in 2010, MoIA announced that work was under way aimed at reorganising ECCs. The Minister added that the issue of detaining juveniles in such Centres will be regulated comprehensively and in detail in a draft Ordinance of the Minister of Interior and Administration on police rooms for detained persons or persons brought to sober up, on template forms filled in and recorded in these rooms, on transition cells, temporary transition rooms, police children emergency centres and on the regulations for staying in such rooms, on methods for storing images recorded in these rooms, making these images available to authorised entities, and on disposal of such images (hereinafter referred to as draft Ordinance). The draft Ordinance attempts to codify standards that are already in force, like in the case of legal regulations applicable in PDRs within Police organisational units. In the current state of law, neither the requirements for ECCs nor their internal regulations have been legally specified. The Defender, who is of the opinion that the above-mentioned issues should form a part of the Polish legal order, sent a letter on the issue to the Minister of Interior and Administration, pointing out the need for an ordinance on Police emergency centres.. The Minister responded that the draft ordinance will include a list of addresses of institutions where juveniles can ask for assistance if their rights are not respected, as well as the regulations for stay of juveniles in ECCs, specifying also their rights and obligations. The draft ordinance, which is currently being elaborated upon in the Ministry, contains provisions also on the equipment and technical security measures used in ECCs. In his response to the accusation included in the Report and concerning the prolonged (i.e. lasting over 72 hours) detentions of juveniles in ECCs, the Minister pointed out that these result from the practice employed by judges, who place juveniles in ECCs for an unlimited period of time until a place in a juvenile shelter or in some other establishment mentioned in the Act on j.d.p. and indicated in the court’s decision is found. He added that the above was confirmed by the information received in May 2011 from the directors of ECCs, which showed that in 2010, 455 juveniles were detained in ECCs for over 5 days, due to a provision, included in the court’s final decision in proceedings against such juveniles, that until a place in the establishment indicated in such decision is found a juvenile shall be detained in an ECC. Considering the above, the Chief Police Commander lodged a motion to commence legislative works to determine the maximum period of detaining a 113  Hereinafter referred to as: “NPM” or “Mechanism.” 65