the hospital.421 Patients in the psychiatric institutions do not enjoy this right at all. Entrance doors to facility wards are locked and patients can neither enter the yard nor outside the yard, despite the absence of the physician’s decision on restricting this right due to the extreme necessity.422 In overcrowded psychiatric facilities, patients are also restricted from using the telephone. Patients at the LTD Center for Mental Health and Drug Preventionas423 as well as at the LTD Tbilisi Center for Mental Health had their mobile phones confiscated.424 Patients’ right to use the telephone is arbitrarily restricted without a written justification provided by law.425 Staff of the institutions justify confiscation of the phone by noting that the calls made by the patient bother his/her fmaily, which is completely unacceptable and a gross violation of the law, since the restriction of the patient's right should serve a legitimate purpose and not creation of comfort for the patient's family members. It is important to return their own phones to the patients and, in case of phone absence, the patients should be able to make at least 1 call per day from the institution phone.426 The patients should not depend on the goodwill of the staff to return their phone, especially during pandemic-related constraint, when patients have even more limited contact with family members. Another issue to be considered is the authority granted to a physician under Article 15.3 of the Law of Georgia on Psychiatric Care, in case of extreme necessity, to restrict patients’ various rights for safety reasons by a written decision. These rights include: the right to use the telephone; right to leave the hospital for a short time; the right to receive letters, parcels and visitors; the right to own a personal item; right to receive audio-visual information, as well as the right to access to the information and medical documentation about his/her health condition. First of all, the Public Defender believes that the list of the rights subjected to restrictions should be reduced to a minimum. For instance: restriction of the right to access information and medical documentation about his/her health condition can not be justified for any reason. Although the Law of Georgia on Patients' Rights also makes an exception, not to provide complete information to the patient, if there is a reasonable presumption that it will cause serious harm to his/her health,427 but the law takes into account the right guaranteed by the Constitution and states that if the patient insists, then the information shall be provided. It is unclear what the restriction of the right to receive audio-visual Law of Georgia on Psychiatric Care, Article 15.2.d. Law of Georgia on Psychiatric Care, Article 15.3. 423 It should also be noted positively that the patients at the Center for Mental Health and Drug Prevention had the possibility to use the computer and the Internet in the social worker's room. 424 Only one patient had his/her own phone at the time of the interview. Most of the patients reported having their phones confiscated wduring admission and only being given back to make a call. According to several patients, they are able to make calls using the employees’ phones. When calling, the staff of the institution does not leave patients and it is impossible to speak confidentially. There were patients who had not used the phone for a long time. One patient mentioned that he has been in the facility for a year and has not used the phone during that time. 425 Law of Georgia on Psychiatric Care, Article 15.2.b and Article 15.3. 426 Report on the visit to Bulgaria carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 10 to 21 August 2020, (CPT/Inf (2020) 39), para. 53, available in English: < https://rm.coe.int/1680a090b7 > [last visited: 30.12.20] 427 Law of Georgia on Patient’s rights, Article 18.2. 421 422 126