NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS CONCERNING DEFENDANTS AND PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITIES IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE external specialists and external hospital facilities; low quality of services provided and critical state of prison hospital care. 238 A striking example is the Specialised Hospital for Active Treatment of Prisoners at the prison in Sofia. In August 2021, during an inspection carried out by the Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” of the Ministry of Healthcare, it was established that the activity of this medical facility does not comply with basic regulatory requirements and mandatory medical standards. 239 In 2021, the Commitee of Ministers of the Council of Europe once again asked Bulgaria to take “decisive actions and comprehensive reforms” to improve medical care in prisons and detention centers. 240 In the same year, the government adopted a Roadmap for the Implementation of the ECtHR Judgments against Bulgaria, in which one of the set measures for the implementation of the decisions of the Kehayov group cases states: “elaboration of a strategy and plan for ensuring adequate medical care together with the Council of Europe. The interviewed under this research prison psychologist noted that in the prison where he works they are privileged because the prison in Lovech has the only psychiatric ward in the penitentiary system. Every new entrant to the prison goes through a psychological evaluation, where it is expected that the presence of some disability will be identified and in most cases, it is. Then the big problem arises, because if the psychologist determines that the prisoner has symptoms of an IPD, he is referred to the psychiatric ward for assessment. The ward psychiatrists then examine the detainee, and if he is found to have an IPD, the district prosecutor is notified. An assessment is appointed and if a disability is found that prevents the sentence from being served, the sentence is terminated or suspended for 6 months for undergoing treatment in a forensic psychiatric department. If the disability does not prevent the punishment from being served, the person is treated within the prison where staff and treatment options are non-existent in practice. 242 According to the interviewed expert witness psychologist the problem is that there is no place and no way to provide specialised medical and psychological help during the serving of the punishments in order to prevent further illegal behavior - in the specialized hospital for those deprived of liberty in Lovech, such work is not carried out because there is no knowledge, specialists and desire. Otherwise, only temporary solitary confinement in a cell and medicines are applied in prisons.243 BHC, 2021 Annual Report, p. 82. Bulgaria, Ministry of Healthcare, Executive Agency “Medical Supervision”, Findings report from an inspection performed № 631/20.08.2021. 240 CM/Del/Dec(2021)1411/H46-10……. Council of Europe. Communication from Bulgaria concerning the case of Kehayov v. Bulgaria (Application No. 41035/98) and Neshkov and Others v. Bulgaria (Application No. 36925/10), DH-DD(2021)698-rev, available at: https://hudoc.exec. coe.int/eng?i=DH-DD(2021)698revE. 241 Bulgaria, Council of Ministers, Roadmap for the Implementation of the ECtHR Judgments against Bulgaria. 242 Bulgaria, Interview with a prison psychologist, former probation officer M.V on 6 June 2022. 243 Bulgaria, Interview with an expert witness psychologist, B.K. on 9 June 2022. 238 239 58 SLAVKA KUKOVA