the national board of institutional care 56 A segregation decision may never be enforced by “pinning down” individuals instead of taking them to a segregation room pinning down is one such measure that requires a legal basis for its use by staff at, for example, a special residential home for young people. Physical restraint through pinning someone down is not listed among the special powers in the Care of Young Persons Act (1990:52), and the concept is not defined in law. In the view of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, a perception must not be allowed to develop among staff at the National Board of Institutional Care’s institutions that staff, in addition to the special powers provided in the Care of Young Persons Act (1990:52), have other unwritten powers, which in reality mean that they may perform acts in violation of Chapter 2, Section 6 of the Instrument of Government. It is inevitable that staff, for example in enforcing a segregation decision, may need to apprehend an inmate to take them to a segregation room. Such a measure is supported by Chapter 24, Section 2 of the Penal Code. In the view of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, a segregation decision may never be enforced by pinning down an individual instead of taking them to a segregation room. The National Board of Institutional Care is required to ensure that its institutions are designed in such a way that staff – in cases where the conditions to segregate an individual are met – are able to hold individuals segregated. Poor design and set up, for example by a lack of segregation rooms or problems with long distances to these rooms, may lead to staff not feeling compelled to take measures that do not fall within the special powers in, inter alia, the Care of Young Persons Act.12 During the inspection of the special residential home for young people Vemyra, it emerged that that, on occasion, staff restrained an individual to prevent her from harming herself when she was held segregated in her living space. The segregation decision described how she was taken to her living space where she was then “pinned down in a lying position for up to 20 minutes each time, about 8 times during a 4 hour period”.13 The National Board of Institutional Care must ensure segregation decisions are enforced in accordance with the law Likewise, during the inspection of the special residential home for young people Långanäs, it emerged that staff had pinned down individuals without taking them to a segregation room. It was also not clear whether there was any intention to do so. Furthermore, it was not always documented how long the young persons had been pinned down, but there were several examples of young persons being restrained for more than 10 minutes without being taken to a special segregation room. Following the inspection, the Parliamentary Ombudsman stated that the National Board of Institutional Care must take measures by, inter alia, designating suitable rooms for segregation purposes to ensure that segregation decisions can be enforced in accordance with the law.14 12 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s decision on 29 November 2019, ref. no. 6774-2017. 13 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 7 and 8, ref. no. O 44-2019. 14 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 15 and 16, ref. no. O 57-2019.