Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017 The issue of the constitutionality of the applicable provisions concerning body search was examined in proceedings K 17/14 conducted before the Constitutional Tribunal at the request A person admitted to and placed in the facility shall undergo a detailed security search in orof the Commissioner for Human Rights on 14 December 2017. The Constitutional Tribunal der to detect items referred to in Article 1(2). The search of the person and of clothes on him/ passed a judgement stating that the fact that definitions of the notion of “the search of an inher shall respect his/her intimacy and shall, whenever possible, be conducted by a person of the dividual” and “body search” are missing in the act infringes the constitutional rights and fresame sex (Article 5(2) of Annex 1 to the RDP and PERC regulation) edoms of an individual. The reply of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior and Administration dated 12 April 2018 indicates that, in connection with the Tribunal’s judgement, work has been initiated in the ministry to prepare proposals for legislative changes84. Monitoring the progress of work on the introduction of the said changes to applicable regulations remains on the NMPT’s agenda. Another success - legislative changes in the regulation on RDPs and Police Emergency Centres for Children. The change pertained to Article 8 (1)(9) of the Rules and Regulations granting the minor the possibility of a contact with a defence counsel, parent or a legal guardian after previously arranging the date with the head of the centre. Pursuant to earlier wording of that regulation, the possibility for visiting a minor by those persons was subject to the approval of the court, the head of the centre or a police officer in charge of the case. Such a situation gave rise to concerns in the context of guaranteeing the right to defence to a minor and constituted the subject of the intervention of the Commissioner to the Minister of the Interior and Administration.85 Moreover, access to a lawyer depended on the will of not only the detained person but also of other individuals, which is against the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Art. 42 (2)), the Act on proceedings in cases of juvenile persons, and the relevant international standards e.g. the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The NMPT: ensuring that a minor has access to a professional defence counsel from the moment of detention and during the stay in the police emergency centre for children is not only a legal requirement, but also one of the best safeguards against acts of violence. 84 85 Cf. BMP-0790-1-16/2017/PS General intervention of the Minister of the Interior and Administration of 30 November2015, ref. no. KMP.573.20.2015 34