National Preventive Mechanism Commission 1 observed that practice in Innsbruck Regional Hospital and in Rankweil Regional Hospital does not comply with this legal provision. For example, notifications were not submitted at the weekend but on the next workday. The owners or operators of the medical facilities contacted by the NPM have since stated that they are willing to guarantee the compulsory immediate reporting of measures that restrict freedom as stipulated in the Hospitalisation of Mentally Ill Persons Act by implementing organisational measures. On a visit to the University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Vienna, Commission 4 observed that in September and October 2016 the private clothes of more than 60% of the resident patients were taken away for two to ten days. The minors were only allowed to wear thin cotton hospital pyjamas with buttons on the front during this phase. Only underpants were allowed whereas it was forbidden to wear a t-shirt or a bra, to the frustration of the girls affected. The Commission saw this as an impermissible restriction of personal rights and violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Pursuant to Section 34a of the Hospitalisation of Mentally Ill Persons Act, the right to wear private clothes may only be restricted if this is necessary to avert danger according to Section 3 (1) or to protect the rights of other persons in the psychiatric ward, and if it is proportionate to the purpose of the measure. A corresponding notification obligation is not expressly required in Section 34a of the Hospitalisation Act. However, expert opinion says that this can be derived directly from the general protection mandate stipulated in Section 1 (1) of the Hospitalisation Act. If this were not the case, the patient advocacy would be unable to exercise their right to file proceedings for the protection of privacy. XX Measures that restrict freedom must be submitted and confirmed immediately, including on public holidays and weekends. XX The ban on wearing private clothes is a violation of personal rights, and therefore the patients’ representatives must be informed immediately. 5.2.5 Application of measures that restrict freedom Measures that restrict freedom are only permissible if they are applied to avert danger, that is, to avert a serious or considerable danger to the life or health of the patient or others, if they support medical treatment or care, and if they are not inappropriate. A measure that restricts freedom can thus not be justified with organisational, personal or business-related reasons. Measures that restrict freedom as a last resort 129