If a detention facility contains a sufficient number of juveniles of a given religion, one or
more qualified representatives of that religion should be appointed or approved and allowed
to hold regular services and to pay pastoral visits in private to juveniles at their request.
Every juvenile should have the right to receive visits from a qualified representative of any
religion of his or her choice, as well as the right not to participate in religious services and
freely to decline religious education, counselling or indoctrination.
An important aspect of education and social reintegration is to draw attention to
the question of freedom of thought and religion. The obligation of the staff in the
juvenile detention centres and juvenile shelters is to organize activities in such a way
so that they took into account the right of the juveniles to perform religious practices
as well as the right to refuse to participate in these practices. In the establishments in
question, there were violations of that right by preventing the juveniles placed in JDC
and JS in Mrozy from direct participation in church services. In JDC in Studzieniec, in
the course of the interview the boys reported that the Intensified Educational Care
group72, as a rule, did not attend the masses. The juvenile from another group reported
that he had been forced to participate in church services. With a similar charge the
NMP representatives dealt with in Warsaw-Falenica: the juvenile reported that
participation in the mass was obligatory.
In other establishments, there were no reservations as to the realization of the
right of the juveniles to perform religious practices. For its proper execution, it will be
helpful to organize a chapel within the establishment (and in particular in the territory
of the juvenile shelter), an example of which is JDC and JS in Laskowiec and
Pszczyna.
The director of JDC in Falenica denied that the juveniles had been forced to
participate in church services, indicating at the same time that everytime they were
encouraged and motivated to do so. The director of JDC and JS in Mrozy explained
that the juveniles staying at the Shelter did not have the possibility to participate in the
Sunday mass because without the consent of the Court they could not leave the
establishment and the establishment did not have a chapel within the Shelter.
j) Right to recreation and rest
Recommendations CM/Rec(2008)11 of the Committee of Ministers to the Member
States on the European Rules for juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures.
Principle 80.2 The institution shall also provide meaningful activities on weekends and
holidays.
Principle 81 All juveniles deprived of their liberty shall be allowed to exercise regularly for
at least two hours every day, of which at least one hour shall be in the open air, if the
weather permits.
United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. General
Assembly resolution 45/113
Principle 47 Every juvenile should have the right to a suitable amount of time for daily free
exercise, in the open air whenever weather permits, during which time appropriate
recreational and physical training should normally be provided. Adequate space,
installations and equipment should be provided for these activities. Every juvenile should
72
RPO-673628-VII-10: "This group is provided for the juveniles having problems with adaptation. The
maximum duration of the stay therein is, in accordance with the rules of procedure for this group, two months
and is dependent on the effects of the educational interactions" (letter of 4 March 2010).
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