The report also recommends that a comprehensive reception and induction process be introduced, notably in remand prisons, to ensure that prisoners are provided with information in a language that they can understand rather than relying on other inmates to tell them about the regime and rules. Further, the CPT states that there is a need to ensure that all inmates are properly interviewed and physically examined by health-care staf within 24 hours of admission to prison. 57. At Grenen and Sølager Secure Institutions for Juveniles, the CPT’s delegation noted with concern that the majority of juveniles on remand had judicial restrictions placed on their contacts with the outside world, often for extensive periods. Such restrictions could include the total prohibition of visits, the prohibition of visits from persons other than the juvenile’s parents or the requirement for visits to be supervised by the police or, if permitted, by staf of the secure institution. Only visits by the juvenile’s lawyer could not be monitored. Also, phone calls could be prohibited or supervised and the content of letters could be checked and withheld. The Committee states that restrictions on contact with the outside world should be used sparingly and that their necessity should always be assessed on a case-bycase basis, in particular where juveniles are concerned. In the Committee’s view, the imposition of such limitations should be the exception, not the rule. More generally, the report comments favourably on the wide range of structured activities ofered at both institutions, the supportive pedagogical approach taken by the personnel and the accommodation of juveniles in wellstafed small living units. However, the CPT considers that all newly admitted juveniles should be medically assessed upon admission by a health-care professional. The report is also critical of the practice found at Grenen, where juveniles were usually confned to their rooms upon admission to the institution for up to a week or longer before being permitted to take outdoor exercise and to associate with other juveniles. 58. Particular attention was paid to the use of restraint in psychiatric hospitals. The report notes positively the constructive attitude and the overall acknowledgement, both by the central authorities and the staf in the hospitals visited, of the need to reduce the resort to physical immobilisation of patients to a bed (fksering). However, the CPT remains seriously concerned that resort to immobilisation, and notably immobilisation lasting longer than 48 hours, had reached all-time peaks in 2012 and 2013 and that in several cases patients had been immobilised for periods from one to three months. It considers that this and other shortcomings found in the three psychiatric hospitals visited are at least partly due to low stafng levels and recommends that the number of nurses in particular be increased. The CPT’s delegation also examined the special coercive measure of “walkingrestraint” at the Secure Department of Nykøbing Sjælland Psychiatric Hospital, which had been legalised in 2010. It found that the measure was applied with appropriate supervision and outside monitoring and with as much respect for the patient’s dignity as possible. Nevertheless, the Committee stresses that the utmost care should be taken to ensure that “walking-restraint” is only applied to patients whose condition requires such a measure and that it be ended as soon as it is no longer necessary. Report published in September 2014, CPT/Inf (2014) 25 Publication highlights ► Page 29

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents