Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2012 5. Rooms for detained persons (PDRs) 5.1 Introduction In 2012, the representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism visited 48 rooms within the Police organisational units for detained persons or persons brought to sober up, of which 3 were revisited. 5.2 Systemic problems 1.  Delegating the responsibility for taking charge of intoxicated persons to the Police. Representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism believe that delegating the obligation and the responsibility to take charge of intoxicated persons to the Police is a systemic problem relating to the functioning of PDRs. This results from closing down sobering-up stations, which currently are still operating only in large cities. It should be noted that PDRs are not prepared for providing care to intoxicated persons since they do not employ a doctor/paramedic, who would watch over the health of those sobering-up117. 2.  Medical examination of detained persons. Medical examination of persons placed in detention rooms is another important issue requiring systemic changes. In a vast majority of the visited establishments medical services are provided as stipulated by the Polish legislation118, i.e. when detained persons have visible bodily injuries, when they state that they suffer from diseases requiring constant or periodic treatment and when they request medical help. Persons brought to sober up also undergo medical examination. However, it should be noted that those who have the status of a detained person and are under the influence of alcohol are not subject to obligatory medical examination. This means that persons in analogous situations (intoxicated detainees must sober up to take part in legal proceedings and those brought to sober up must do so to be released) are, according to the law, treated differently insofar as the obligatory medical examination is concerned. In both cases the aim of medi For more information on the subject see: Sobering-up Stations (6.2 Systemic Problems). Ordinance of the Minister of the Interior of 13 September 2012 on medical examinations of persons detained by the Police (Dz. U. of 2012, item 1102) and the previous Ordinance of the Minister of Interior and Administration of 21 June 2002 on medical examinations of persons detained by the Police (Dz. U. No 97, item 880). 117 118 62