Places visited by the National Preventive Mechanism in 2011 JS in Dominów, JS in Chojnice). Despite the provisions of § 71(1)(12) and (13) of the Ordinance, a punishment in the form of “transfer to another establishment” should not be used, as stated in the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the European Rules for juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures186: Juveniles shall not be transferred as a disciplinary measure (Recommendation 97). The National Preventive Mechanism is of the opinion that transfer to another centre should not be listed among punishments imposed by the staff of the establishment. In response to the relevant recommendations of the Mechanism, the directors of visited establishments argued that the exclusion of transfer to another establishment from among the possible sanctions is not the competence of the establishment, and such punishment is compliant with the national legislation. In view of international standards, the NPM’s findings and positions presented by the directors of visited establishments, on 23 September 2011 the Human Rights Defender asked187 the Minister of Justice to address the issue of transfer of juveniles to other establishments as a means of punishment used in some juvenile detention centres. The Defender was also concerned about the fact that punishments applied in juvenile detention centres were not based on the provisions of the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings, but on the Ordinance on juvenile detention centres and juvenile shelters. Thus, the Defender requested the Minister of Justice to take position on regulating in an act the juvenile delinquency cases, which go beyond the statutory authorisation as defined in the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings, and adjusting them to the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In reply to the request of the Human Rights Defender, the Minister of Justice (in a letter of 21 October 2011) agreed that the provisions of the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings needed to be further adjusted to the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the European Rules for juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures and to other international standards. The Minister also informed the Defender that the procedure for transferring a juvenile to another establishment prevented arbitrary decisions of the director of the establishment and ensured the observance of juvenile’s rights. On 28 February 2012, the Human Rights Defender filed a request188 to the Constitutional Tribunal to declare §65, §66, §70, §71, §72, §73, §74, §90, §91, §93, §94, §95 of the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 17 September 2001 on juvenile detention centres and juvenile shelters to be incompliant with Article 95§3 of the Act of 26 October 1982 on juvenile delinquency proceedings and with the first sentence of Article 92(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland189.  CM/Rec(2008)11.  RPO-672825-VII/11.  RPO-672825-VII-12. 189  More on the request in the next Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism and in Report on the Activity of the NPM in the First Quarter of 2012. 186 187 188 105