Prisons and pre-trial detention centres solve the general systemic problem,45 they only promise another amendment.46 It should be noted that the amendment, declared for a long time now, will not entail an increase in expenditure. 4. Absence or a poor offer of cultural and educational activities for remand prisoners and convicts. Another example of systemic shortcomings affecting remand prisoners is the absence of broadly understood cultural and educational activities for this category of inmates. The visits carried out by the NPM representatives in 2012 prove that apart from the possibility to go to community rooms (only in establishments where community rooms have been set up), there are no other activities outside residential cells for remand prisoners. Thus in practice, apart from the everyday walk, remand prisoners spend 23 hours a day in their cells. The situation of convicts is similar as community rooms are adapted for residential purposes. It should be emphasised that the problem of the lack of community rooms and the poor offer of cultural and educational activities for inmates was also highlighted by CPT is its recommendations for the Polish government issued after visits to Polish places of detention in 2009. The Committee concluded that in order to improve the situation of prisoners in this respect, strenuous efforts should be made to develop the programme of activities for remand and sentenced prisoners: The aim should be to ensure that both categories of prisoner are able to spend a reasonable part of the day (eight hours or more) outside their cells, engaged in purposeful activity of a varied nature.47 The shortcomings in the area of inmates’ access to 45 Drafting the 5th and 6th Interim Report of the Republic of Poland on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for 1 October 2004 – 15 October 2011 (with particular emphasis on the period 1 May 2007 – 15 October 2011), the Ministry of Justice argued that: “the rights of remand prisoners, referred to in Article 215(1) of the Executive Penal Code, concern also communication with the defence attorney or attorney by mail or by phone. The provision of Article 217a of the Executive Penal Code, which stipulates that the correspondence of remand prisoners shall be withheld, censored or supervised, does not apply in this situation. Also the provision of Article 217c of the Executive Penal Code, which prohibits remand prisoners to use the phone and other means of wired or wireless communication, does not apply to communication with the defence attorney or attorney.” It should be noted that the above information provided to international bodies is incomplete as it has not been added that, in fact, remand prisoners may not exercise the right to call their defence attorneys or attorneys. 46 Letter of the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Justice of 28 February 2013 (DWMPC-III-070-5/12/82), p. 5: http://www.rpo.gov.pl/pl/content/raport-rpo-z-dzia%C5%82alno%C5%9Bciw-polsce-kmp-w-roku-2011-0. 47 Cf. § 112 Report to the Polish Government on the visit to Poland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 26 November to 8 December 2009 [CPT/Inf (2011) 20]. 29