CPT: The report on the CPT ad hoc visit, published on 28 October 2020 stated, inter
alia, that access of detained persons (including juveniles) to a lawyer should still be
considered as exceptionally rare. In practice, contact with an attorney or legal adviser
was ensured only to those detainees with whom the CHR representatives had spoken,
who could afford legal aid and who knew the name and telephone number of their
lawyer. Despite the earlier recommendations, detainees still cannot count on the
assistance of an ex officio lawyer before the commencement of the court
proceedings.59
Failure to conduct medical examinations of all detainees
There is no obligation in Poland to subject every detained person to a medical examination. The
situations when a person is obligatorily subjected to such an examination are specified in the Regulation
of the Minister of the Interior60.
Although the national law does not provide for such a requirement, the NMPT thinks that all
detainees should undergo mandatory medical examinations. The medical examination of detainees and
proper documentation of injuries found during the examination is considered to be the fundamental and
minimum safeguards for these persons against torture and violence, which is strongly emphasised by
international institutions monitoring the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.61
59
CPT report on the ad hoc visit to Poland, CPT/Inf (2020), para. 21.
60
Regulation of the Minister of the Interior of 13 September 2012 on medical examinations for persons detained
by the Police (Dz.U. (Journal of Laws) of 2012, item 1102), point 1(3).
61
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).
Cf. e.g.: 2nd General Report, CPT/Inf (92) 3, paras. 36-38; Report on the CPT visit to Poland, 25 June 2014,
CPT/Inf (2014) 21, paras. 26 and 30; Report on the CPT visit to Poland, 25 July 2018, CPT/Inf (2018)39, para.
27.
43
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