CAT/OP/CHL/1/Add.1 3.1.6 Restrictive use of deprivation of liberty for purposes of psychiatric evaluation 91. Paragraph 36: The Subcommittee recommends that the State party call upon all justice officials to limit the use of deprivation of liberty for the purpose of psychiatric evaluation and to ensure that they comply strictly with the legally permissible time frames when determining that deprivation of liberty for such purposes is required. 92. Regarding the Subcommittee’s observations and recommendation concerning the use of psychiatric records in considering exemptions from criminal responsibility, and the advice that all actors in the administration of justice should use deprivation of liberty restrictively, the Government reports that measures will be adopted to accelerate expert procedures and minimize restriction of liberty for psychiatric evaluation in establishing criminal liability. 93. The judiciary was formally notified of this recommendation, on the understanding that although compliance with the recommendations is a State obligation, domestic arrangements to that end are part of a political and legal structure based on the separation of powers. The judiciary will therefore be in charge of weighing the merits of this recommendation, as the executive branch does not have the power to interfere in such decisions. 3.2 Health 94. International human rights law provides that one of the implications of the Government’s role as guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of liberty is the duty to guarantee respect of their human rights, including the right to health. This involves the Government taking all necessary measures; in this regard, attention should be drawn to the framework cooperation agreement concluded in August 2016 between the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry of Health, the Prison Service, the National Health Fund and the Office of the Superintendent of Health, the purpose of which is to provide a general framework for inter-agency coordination and work with a view to gradually improving the sanitary conditions of prisons and the health of persons deprived of their liberty. 30 For its proper implementation, the agreement establishes a technical working group composed of one representative from each of the signatory parties. 95. The objectives of the working group are: (a) to maintain the level of inter-agency communication needed to implement the agreement; (b) to report on the need to establish and update the baseline(s) for the measures to be adopted by each signatory institution in the context of its functions and powers; (c) to propose the measures and programmes of action deemed necessary to the respective authorities; (d) to report to the authorities of the signatory institutions on all matters relevant to implementation of the agreement; and (e) draw up and submit to the parties an annual progress report on the measures implemented and the outcome thereof. 96. Paragraph 53: The Subcommittee recommends that, following their arrest, all detainees be given medical examinations in a public health institution as a matter of course. The examination should take place in private, and the health record should be filled in by health-care staff. It also recommends that: standard operating procedures be established for these examinations, with particular emphasis being placed on the proactive detection of injuries, in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol; that there be a written attestation of the detainee-patient’s consent; and that the report, in accordance with the need to preserve confidentiality, be delivered in a sealed envelope addressed to the judge responsible for procedural safeguards. The health-care system is also urged to keep a record of injuries identified as being compatible with torture and ill-treatment and of allegations made by persons deprived of their liberty who have been examined. 97. In the context of the aforementioned framework agreement, work is under way on a rule for examining the injuries of persons deprived of their liberty, based on the Istanbul Protocol. The rule regulates the procedure from the moment when law enforcement 30 GE.17-07762 The framework cooperation agreement was signed on 1 August 2016 and has an indefinite duration. 19

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