opcat inspections and follow-up ombudsman decisions 38 Opportunities for persons deprived of their liberty to spend time outdoors Outdoor access As regards outdoor access, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has recommended that persons who are deprived of their liberty by the police for 24 hours or longer be offered the opportunity to spend time outdoors (see CPT Standards, Extract from the 12th General Report, p. 48) The legislation concerning the right of persons deprived of their liberty to spend time outdoors varies between the different areas. Under the Act on Detention, an inmate in a police cell or remand prison shall be given the opportunity to spend at least one hour each day outdoors unless there are exceptional reasons for not providing this opportunity. A corresponding regulation is found in the Act on Imprisonment. The legislation on compulsory psychiatric care (LPT and LRV)1 contains no provisions that expressly give persons deprived of their liberty the right to spend time outdoors. In addition, the LVU or LVM do not contain any such provisions. With respect to persons receiving care pursuant to the LVU, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen has previously stated that it should perhaps be considered whether there is reason to introduce statutory provisions on the right to outdoor access similar to those in the correctional system.2 The question of inmates’ right to daily outdoor access has been raised in several complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsmen. During the CPT’s visit in 2009, Sweden was recommended to ensure that persons deprived of their liberty are offered daily outdoor access. The question of the right to outdoor access is being monitored as part of the OPCAT activities. The inspections during the period showed that the police service does not ensure that inmates have the opportunity to go outdoors every day in the same way as the Prison and Probation Service does. Furthermore, the inspections of police detention facilities also indicated deficiencies as regards information about rights. In some cases, it was also found that there was a complete lack of opportunities to offer outdoor access. This question has therefore been subject to special investigation, and a summary of this is presented below.3 Outdoor access for inmates in police detention facilities In a statement in the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s case the National Police Board confirmed the existence of marked shortcomings in terms of opportunities to spend time outdoors and the design of exercise yards. The Parliamentary Ombudsman stated in the decision that it had emerged that not all police detention facilities have exercise yards, and that inmates’ opportunities to spend time outdoors at a couple of police detention facilities are dependent on staffing. In the decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman stressed 1 The Compulsory Psychiatric Care Act (1991:1128) [LPT] and the Forensic Mental Care Act (1991:1129) [LRV 2 Ref. no. 1474-2004 3 Ref. no. 2054-2013