Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2013 2013 revealed a need for extensive changes, not only architectural, but also transformation of outlook. The lack of architectural adjustments may still be explained by the relatively short time elapsed from the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities53 and insufficient resources to finance the elimination of architectural barriers, but the attitudes of the management of individual penitentiary units to the problem of disabled inmates raise concerns of the NPM representatives. It is frequently the case that when asked about the reason why there is not a single cell adapted for the needs of persons with disabilities, prison directors seem not to notice the problem as there are no disabled prisoners at a given point in time. The discussion on the adjustment of penitentiary units to the needs of disabled persons must take into account the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg from 2006 in the case of Vincent v. France54, where the Court found the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights by placing an inmate on a wheelchair in a cell not adjusted to the need of disabled persons, which he could not leave on his own. Complaints from disabled persons staying in prisons and lack of awareness of the needs of such persons on the part of prison authorities were the basis of petitions of the Human Rights Defender. In her petition of 21 October 2013 to the General Director of the Prison Service55, the Defender emphasized that in relation to the principle of individualisation of serving the imprisonment penalty, disability is a reason for even further individualisation of the conditions of serving time in prison. The task of public authority bodies is to create adequate conditions for the implementation of programmes to provide equal opportunities to disabled persons. This is also the task of the Prison Service. The Human Rights Defender also petitioned the Minister of Infrastructure and Development56, on 11 December 2013, emphasising that in the current legal situation, there is no obligation for prisons and pre-trial detention centres to ensure appropriate conditions for disabled inmates, which is contrary to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by Poland. The Act – Building Law does not provide a definition of a “public utility building,” which in practice makes it impossible to unambiguously specify buildings to which the obligation to adapt to the needs of disabled persons applies. Poland ratified the Convention on 6 September 2012 (Dz. U. of 2012, item 1169). Application No 6253/03. 55 RPO-727955-II-702/13/JN. 56 RPO-744194-II/IV-702/13/EB/AT. 53 54 33