CAT/OP/POL/ROSP/1 in the event of an emergency, the building would not be unlocked immediately. Although the prison director stated that the key remained with the night guard and that there was a set of emergency keys at the gate, the guards who were interviewed were not aware of this, since they confirmed the information provided by the female inmates. Given that a sexual exploitation scandal involving prison guards and female inmates had affected the same facility in the past, one can imagine that such a measure may have been introduced in an attempt to better control movements at night; however, the Subcommittee is concerned that the arrangement represents a safety risk. 76. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that foreign inmates and female inmates do not experience de facto discrimination in its prison system. 77. Specifically with regard to the women’s section (Ward K) in Wrocław Prison 1, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party take urgent measures to review and improve the regime, conditions and treatment of women, as well as the security measures put in place by the prison authority. 2. Excessive length of detention on remand 78. Although the Criminal Procedure Code prescribes the maximum legal durations for pretrial detention, a number of detainees interviewed by the delegation complained that the length of their detention on remand lasted for excessive amounts of time, in some cases more than one year. The Subcommittee recalls that detention in custody of persons awaiting trial should be the exception rather than the rule, as stipulated in international human rights law. 16 79. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that pretrial detention policy meets international standards, namely that the recourse to detention is always the measure of last resort. It further recommends that the State party consider further increasing the use of alternative measures to pretrial detention and ensure that the mechanism for reviewing detention decisions is effective. 3. Conditions of detention (a) Material conditions 80. While noting that the statistics provided by the authorities and prison management would indicate that there is no overcrowding in prisons, the Subcommittee notes that the official capacity of the detention cells is not calculated in accordance with the European minimum standard of living space of at least four square metres per person. 17 In reality, the delegation observed that in most of the cells it visited, less than four square metres per person were available. This issue is further compounded by the fact that prisoners who do not work or are not involved in training or education programmes are generally allowed to spend only the minimum of one hour per day outdoors. The situation of new arrivals at prison may be even worse, as the delegation learned that in at least one facility (Płock Prison), during the initial quarantine period of 14 days, inmates were not allowed any time outside their cells. 81. In line with repeated recommendations by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to this end, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party raise the minimum standard of living space per prisoner to at least four square metres in multi-occupancy cells (not counting the area taken up by any in-cell sanitary facility) and six square metres in single-occupancy cells; and review the official capacity of all correctional facilities accordingly. 82. The Subcommittee notes that differences in terms of the material conditions were observed across the visited facilities and some had clearly undertaken measures to renovate buildings, replace infrastructure or provide new furniture. The Subcommittee is, nevertheless, concerned that in many facilities the material conditions are poor, electricity and water installations in some facilities are dated, and the limited furniture provided is usually old and 16 17 12 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 9 (3); see also general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person, para. 38. At least four square metres of living space per prisoner in multi-occupancy cells, sanitary annex excluded, and at least six square metres in single-occupancy cells, sanitary annex excluded.