Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2013
3C.3.3. Right to information about the legal rights
According to § 40(2) of the Ordinance of the Minister of the Interior of 4
June 2012, a copy of the Rules of Police emergency centres for children and a list
of institutions safeguarding the rights of juveniles are placed in a bedroom for
juveniles, community room, isolation room and sanitary isolation room in such
a way as to prevent them from being destroyed or using them to harm anyone. In
one of the visited establishments, this obligation was not complied with because
the information was not placed in juveniles’ bedrooms.162 In view of the above,
NPM representatives recommended posting the information in the rooms in accordance with the abovementioned provision.
3C.3.4. Contact with the outside world
Contacts of juveniles staying in Police emergency centres for children has
been identified as requiring regulation in the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings. It should also be noted that pursuant to Article 40 § 4 of the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings, the Police should notify the parents or guardians
of a juvenile about his/her detention immediately. Analysing randomly selected
detention protocols, NPM representatives noticed that the average time from the
moment of detention of a juvenile to notification of parents was 3-5 hours.
3C.3.5. Staff
In all the visited facilities part of the staff were women. When a girl is placed
in a Police emergency centre for children, the activities connected with the placement can be performed by female Police officers.
Police officers serving in the visited establishments were trained primarily in the
methods and forms of performing tasks in a Police emergency centre for children.163
3C.3.6. Cultural and educational measures
Visited establishments have community rooms with, inter alia, TV set, ping
pong table, table, benches to sit on or desks and chairs. In one Police emergency
centre for children there was a sports hall,164 but it was not used as it was refurbished, while in two centres there were libraries.165
The Day Agenda of the visited establishments included the following activities: school classes, formative and care, cultural and educational, sports and lei Police Emergency Centre for Children in Będzin.
Police Emergency Centres for Children in: Będzin, Białystok, Krakow.
164
Police Emergency Centre for Children in Białystok.
165
Police Emergency Centres for Children in: Będzin, Białystok.
162
163
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