POLICE DETENTION FACILITIES In 2020, the NMPT visited 39 police detention facilities (31 rooms for detained persons or persons brought for sobering-up, operating within the organizational units of the police, and 8 police stations). The visits included: one general on-site visit, three thematic visits to verify the implementation of the CPT and the SPT recommendations, and 35 ad hoc visits related to people’s detentions that took place during protests held in Warsaw. • SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS During the visits in 2020, representatives of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture identified the following systemic problems (referred to also in the previous years 55): Lack of access to a lawyer from the beginning of detention The possibility of access to a lawyer immediately upon detention is a fundamental safeguard for persons deprived of their liberty. The presence of a professional lawyer during activities carried out with regard to detained persons makes it possible for them to better understand their situation and rights. Moreover, access to a lawyer effectively minimizes the risk of torture or other forms of violence, which risk, as shown by the experience of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, is the greatest immediately after detention. The currently binding provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure56 lead to a situation in which most detainees do not, in practice, have access to a lawyer from the beginning of detention. In the Polish legal system, there are no relevant regulations ensuring that a detained person has immediate and free-of-charge access to a defence counsel (financed from the state budget). This inconsistent with the applicable European Union regulations. There should be no acceptance for situations in which the exercise of detained persons’ fundamental right to legal aid depends solely on the grassroots-level initiatives and good will of lawyers. 55 See e.g. Reports of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 56 Act of 6 June 1997 - Code of Criminal Procedure (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2020, item 30, as amended). 41