Places visited by the National Preventive Mechanism in 2011 off the walls, the premises neglected, rooms equipped with old furniture and old windows, equipment worn out, and shattered tiles in toilets and shower rooms. The CPT indicates that a well-designed juvenile detention centre will provide positive and personalised conditions of detention for young persons deprived of their liberty. . In addition to being of an adequate size, well lit and ventilated, juveniles’ sleeping and living areas should be properly furnished, well-decorated and offer appropriate visual stimuli. Unless there are compelling security reasons to the contrary, juveniles should be allowed to keep a reasonable quantity of personal items172. In many of the visited establishments, the conditions in sanitary rooms, not ensuring privacy to juveniles, caused concern of the NPM – there were no curtains/doors in showers, and the toilet area was separated only by a low wall. This violates the provisions of Rule 65.2 of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the European Rules for juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures173 which states that: Juveniles shall have ready access to sanitary facilities that are hygienic and respect privacy. In the opinion of the NPM, the management of an establishment is responsible for ensuring that sanitary facilities are hygienic and respect privacy, thus the Machanism recommended that curtains/doors are installed in toilets and showers in some establishments (YSC No 5 in Warsaw, YCC in Wielkie Drogi, YCC in Kamionek Wielki, YSC in Ustka, YCC in Łękawa, YSC No 3 in Łódź, YCC No 2 in Warsaw, YCC in Rzepczyn). Directors of these establishments accepted the NPM’s recommendations on living conditions, pointing out, however, that some establishments lacked funds for recommended repairs. Nonetheless, they all took efforts to improve the situation. It is worth pointing out that the Director of YSC No 3 in Łódź developed cooperation with hotels in Łódź and receives from them bed linen, tablecloth and beds as donation. He also signed an agreement with the President of District Court in Łódź that works benefiting the community (cleaning, repairs, renovation on the centre’s premises) may be performed as a part of punishment consisting in the deprivation of liberty. It is worth mentioning at this point that on 15 February 2011, the Human Rights Defender directed a general address174 to the President of Extraordinary Committee concerning the proposed amendments to the Act on supporting the family and on the system of substitute care 175. In the above-mentioned address the Defender pointed out that during the visits of the National Prevention Mechanism, the directors of youth care centres and youth sociotherapy centres expressed their concern about the provision stipulating that if a court, pursuant to the provisions on proceedings in juvenile cases, decides to place in a youth care centre or a juvenile detention centre a child, who is under institutional substitute care, the decision to place this child under institutional substitute care is repealed. The  See: § 29 and 30 of the 9th General Report [CPT/Inf (99) 12].  CM/Rec(2008)11.  RPO-637047-VII-110064/09. 175  See: Letter No 3378. 172 173 174 99