Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017 Right to defence The staff of RDPs fails to ensure an immediate and direct contact with an attorney or a legal counsel. Allowing the person detained by the police to have an assistance of an attorney is a basic safeguard against ill-treatment. It acts as a deterrent to those who may feel inclined to ill-treatment of detainees. Moreover, an attorney is in an excellent position to initiate relevant actions if ill-treatment actually occurs (CPT)101 As officers who were on duty during the visit to the RDP in Częstochowa reported, the establishment is not the place in which such a contact could be established and all requests in that regard are directed to the police station or the police department responsible for the detention. It could be concluded from the conversation held with the Municipal Police Commander in Częstochowa that he is familiar with that procedure. Given the inadequate practice that was adopted by the personnel of the RDP, it should be also observed that Article 245(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not indicate that a specific unit responsible for detention should ensure a contact with an attorney or a legal counsel. It simply states that the detainee, at his/her request, should be entitled to immediately contact an attorney or a legal counsel (…). Some of the inspected facilities did not have a list of attorneys and legal counsels that is normally made available to persons wishing to exercise their right to defence. What was also missing was a list of institutions dealing with the protection of human rights (e.g. the Commissioner for Human Rights and the free-of-charge civic hotline 800 676 676). The NMPT reminds that the right to have access to a defence counsel is one of the three basic rights of detainees and constitutes a guarantee for the protection against torture. 101 See: CPT 21st General Report [CPT/Inf (2011) 28] 49