Part I 3 m² per person is not in line with the European standard of at least 4 m² per person. Consequently, the CAT decided that the problem of overcrowding of penitentiary institutions in Poland had not yet been solved and called on Poland to take necessary steps to ensure that the conditions in prisons are at least equivalent to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of 31 July 1957, and, in particular, to take action to increase the capacity of penitentiary institutions in order to ensure the minimum European standard of 4 m² per prisoner in a cell26. Unfortunately, the arguments presented by the CHR were not met with understanding. The Minister of Justice, in his reply of 23 June 2016, refused to take legislative action27. His position was based on the argumentation that the number of persons in penitentiary institutions in Poland is continuously decreasing, and the number of persons who serve their sentences outside penitentiary institutions, under the electronic surveillance system, is growing. It is difficult to share the position of the Minister of Justice because, according to the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, the decrease in the number of prisoners at the same time opens up the possibility of increasing the living space per prisoner. In view of the above, on 29 July 2016 the CHR submitted an intervention to the Minister of Justice. In the document, the Commissioner took note of the complexity and long-term nature of the process of elimination of overcrowding of penitentiary institutions, and appealed to the Minister of Justice to consider legislative action to introduce the postulated living space standard (4 m2) in therapeutic care wards for persons with non-psychiatric mental disorders or mental retardation28. In the CHR’s opinion, this group of persons deprived of their liberty is most severely affected by the consequences of imprisonment and, therefore, the Polish authorities are required to take more decisive action in this respect. In his reply of 17 October 2016, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice assured29 that the Minister takes into account all recommendations of the NMPT and supports measures aimed at eliminating any possible deficiencies concerning the operation of establishments where isolation meas The translation of the recommendations is available on the Public Information Bulletin (BIP) page of the website of the Ministry of Justice, under the tab The United Nations and Human Rights. 27 Reply of the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice of 23.06.2016, ref. no. DWOiP-I-072-21/16. 28 CHR’s general intervention no. KMP.571.5.2016 of 29.07.206 to the Minister of Justice. 29 Reply of the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice of 17.10.2016, ref. no. DWOiP-I-072-21/16. 26 23