Security measures
Custody facilities
Confiscation of
glasses and bras
Responsibility of the
officers
Access to lawyers
Access to medicine
Oversight of the prosecution
Physical conditions
Court jails
Registers
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Very often, detainees are forced to remove their glasses and bras. Ever since its first
activity report in 2008, the Contrôleur général has continuously contested the grounds
for this measure, highlighting its lack of effectiveness in terms of safety as well as its
evident humiliating consequences on persons in custody, thereby making them feel
even more vulnerable.
It is necessary to ensure that the staff in charge of implementing the measures of
taking people into custody are not encouraged to use excessive precautions due to an
excessively extensive definition of their disciplinary responsibility. Once an officer
has correctly assessed the risks of a situation and has taken reasonable suitable
measures, he should not be held responsible for any unforeseen event. The security
of the people in custody must be subject to an obligation of due diligence and not an
obligation of result.
The lawyers must be provided with a room specifically allocated to accommodate
persons in custody or in detention, with a call button, electric sockets and the Internet.
The list of members of the Bar association must be displayed in it. This description
is adequate for an interview room.
Having a general practitioner conduct the examination in the actual confinement
facilities is the preferred method as long as it is possible, since this allows verifying
the compatibility of the health of the examined person with the measure taken in the
actual conditions of its execution.
The control function of the prosecutors on the places of deprivation of liberty is
frequently exercised unsatisfactorily. Directives must be given to the prosecutors to
help them in executing a pertinent control.
The Contrôleur général regrets the continued existence of poorly maintained and
often very small rooms, which does not contribute to appeasing the detainees, as well
as that of washrooms that do not allow maintaining the privacy of those who use them
and which are sometimes not sufficiently clean. The absence of washrooms in the
jails sometimes forces the detainee to travel to common washrooms along with
his/her escort. Hygiene is not always maintained in these places. This situation must
be improved.
In court jails, the frequent absence of occupancy registers or the fact that they are not
updated hinders the traceability of inbound persons, the duration of their stay and the
enforcement of their rights. Therefore, it is impossible to verify the existence of an
effective control of the legal and hierarchical authorities concerning the rights of
detainees and the condition of the jails.
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