question. The police physician’s scope of action depends on whether detainees show signs of acute risk for suicide or non-acute suicidal tendencies. Depending on the assessment of the state of the detainee’s mental health at the time of the examination, police physicians can have the detainee forcibly committed to a psychiatric ward under the Hospitalisation of Mentally Ill Persons Act, determine that he/she is unfit to undergo detention or declare him/her fit to undergo detention under the condition that the detainee receives psychiatric or psychological care during further detention. Closely connected to these questions of terminology is the assessment of fitness to undergo detention when there are mental symptoms. The term “fitness to undergo detention” is currently not explicitly covered by the Code of Conduct for Detention. In this regard, the NPM accepted the proposed definition of the former Human Rights Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which was developed with the assistance of interdisciplinary expertise. The precise concept should now be clarified by the working group. Term “(un)fitness to undergo detention” In practice, if a detainee presents a danger to himself/herself, this vulnerable person is often ordered to be placed into a specially secured cell. In 2012, the NPM made a proposal to the Federal Ministry of the Interior to make a thorough reconsideration of the placement of mentally ill persons and persons who are a danger to themselves as well as inebriated and substance-impaired persons into specially secured cells (see also NPM Report 2014, p. 122 et seq.). Placement in security cells Close observation in a specially secured cell, as recommended by one of the police physicians, cannot replace specialised diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Failure to provide medical care in these cases is problematic due to the fact that the state has a special duty of care when it deprives persons of their freedom. Moreover, in such cases, the principle of equivalent health care required by the CPT would be violated (see CPT standards, p. 31, margin no. 31, and p. 94, margin no. 32). The development of criteria for the medically necessary transfer of such persons to specialised clinics instead of their placement in specially secured cells could minimise the risk of jeopardising the health of this particularly vulnerable group of persons by making a bad decision. To coincide with the revision of the guideline for the police medical service and the Code of Conduct for Detention, the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced that it is developing a practice guideline which will adequately ensure provision of the necessary health care in the future. Unfortunately, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has not yet put its announcement into practice – despite a recommendation in this regard by the NPM (see NPM Report 2014, p. 122). In particular, mentally ill persons and persons who are a danger to themselves could, if placed in isolation in bare security cells without contact with the outside world or opportunities for diversion, cross the border into risk for suicide at any time without this being noticed. Therefore, the NPM hopes that this matter can also be resolved by the working 128