Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017 24-hour care facility. This applies, in particular, to situations in which those persons are not legal representatives of the residents, as the residents are not legally incapacitated and no legal guardian has been appointed for them. It would be desirable, therefore, to regulate the issue in the generally applicable regulations, e.g. by introducing solutions similar to the consent of a custody court for the provision of a health service, which is given in accordance with Article 32 of the Act of 5 December 1996 on the Professions of Physician and Dentist107, or similar to the consent for a person’s placement in a psychiatric hospital, which is given under Articles 22 and 23 of the AMHP. The solutions could include, among others, the requirement for a family members or other persons to apply to a court for a consent for the person’s placement in a care facility. Thanks to the supervision by courts, the status of persons admitted to such facilities would be significantly strengthened, as at present such persons often have no possibility to have any influence on their future. Use of direct coercion measures in 24-hour care facilities In the opinion of the NMPT, there is a lack of legal regulations on the use of direct coercion measures in such facilities. According to the current regulations, the use of such measures in places other than psychiatric hospitals is permitted only in organizational units that are operated by the social welfare system, in social care homes and, in the case of specifically authorized authorities e.g. the police, at any place as required. If direct coercion measures are used in 24-hour care facilities, then in the opinion of the NMPT they may constitute actions that are prohibited (violation of bodily integrity, or unlawful deprivation of liberty). The Commissioner has applied to the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy for regulating the use of direct coercion measures in 24-hour care facilities108. The Minister shared the Commissioner’s opinion and ensured that the Ministry is working on introducing, into the Act on Social Welfare, provisions that would require employment, by such facilities, of medical personnel that would be authorized to use direct coercion measures. Unfortunately, despite the Minister’s announcements the amendment has not yet been introduced. Currently, 24-hour care facilities are not formally permitted to use coercion measures in relation to their residents but are at the same time required to keep registers of cases of use of direct coercion, including the date and scope of using such measures. 107 consolidated text: Dz. U. of 2017, item 125 108 KMP.575.13.2016 58