Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 establishment. The Minister announced that the probable cause for all this is the insufficient number of places in the indicated establishments, inadequate compared to the number of decisions issued by courts124. On the other hand, the Minister of Justice announced that the cause for prolonged stays is not related to the system of management or to the lack of places. The Chief Police Commander noted that there is a legal vacuum related to the lack of provisions stipulating the maximum length of a juvenile’s stay in an ECC. This concerns a juvenile against whom a court issued, within 72 hours of his/her detention, a decision to place him/her in a juvenile shelter or in some other establishment mentioned in the Act on j.d.p. Despite extensive contributions to legislative work by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Police Commander, the issue of the maximum length of juveniles’ stay in an ECC after a court has issued a decision remains to be regulated in the amendment of the Act on j.d.p.125 The issue of prolonged stays remains in the field of interest of the Human Rights Defender. The National Preventive Mechanism recommended to: • Eliminate cases of detaining juveniles in Police emergency centres for children for a period exceeding that stipulated in Article 40 of the Act on j.d.p. b) Staff Pursuant to Beijing Rules126 (Rule 12.1), in order to best fulfil their functions, police officers who frequently or exclusively deal with juveniles or who are primarily engaged in the prevention of juvenile crime shall be specially instructed and trained. Pursuant to Decision No 346 of the Chief Police Commander of 9 August 2004 on police officers on duty in police children emergency centres127, police officers-tutors (at least two police officers on duty), with at least a college degree and pedagogical training, are responsible for juveniles during their stay in a centre (§ 2). Officers in the visited establishments, who did not have a degree in education, completed a pedagogical training which prepared them for work in the Centre. During its visits, the National Preventive Mechanism verifies whether the employees of ECCs have an opportunity to improve their qualifications. Irregularities in this area were discovered in Centres in Gorzów Wielkopolski and in Bydgoszcz, where staff members did not participate in regular, interdisciplinary trainings on how to work with juveniles or to how to administer first aid. Heads of the Centres were positive about the recommendations to carry out regular trainings of staff. Another irregularity consisted in searches being made by person of different gender than that of person subject to searched (ECC in Olsztyn). Since there is only one female  BMP-0790-6-1/11.  Dz.U. of 2011 No 191, item 1134.  Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice. Resolution of General Assembly 40/33 of 29 November 1985. 127  Dz. Urz. KGP. 04. 16. 101. 124 125 126 70