Report of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights on the Activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention ...
of his/her liberty they, as a rule, should ensure to the person the conditions
that meet specific needs arising from his/her disability41.
The deputy CHR, in his aforementioned intervention, also emphasized
that architectural barriers are mainly found in establishments built long ago
and included in the list of monuments of architecture, and in those for which,
at their designing stage, no account was taken of the required adjustments.
The proposed amendment of the aforementioned Regulation should take
into account the need to indicate such establishments for wheelchair users,
which enable necessary adjustments to the full extent and thereby guarantee
to persons with disabilities the possibility to move independently.
In reply to the above-mentioned general intervention, the Deputy Director General of the Prison Service, despite his assurances of compliance
with the principle of humanitarianism and of efforts made to minimize the
burden related to imprisonment of persons with disabilities, did not indicate
that the Prison Service intended to review the list of establishments designated for placing persons with disabilities and indicate those institutions
whose adjustment is possible at all. Given the scale of non-adjustment of
penitentiary establishments within the discussed scope, as disclosed by the
NMPT, this fact should be considered very disturbing42.
4. Body search
Since 2014, the CHR has been calling for amending the regulations on body
search43. The Commissioner’s application to the Constitutional Tribunal for
assessing the constitutionality of Article 116(6) of the Executive Penal Code
in conjunction with Article 7(1) thereof, which permit such measures without
issuing decisions that are subject to judicial review44, is awaiting consideration
by the Tribunal. The challenged provision directly infringes the right to the
respect for bodily integrity and privacy of persons deprived of their liberty.
Apart from introducing the possibility of judicial review of the justification of
body search, the adoption of appropriate regulations will, in the CHR’s opinion, be compliant with judgements of the European Court of Human Rights
issued in the cases Milka v. Poland45 and Świderski v. Poland46.
Cf. Farbtuhs against Latvia, Price v. Great Britain (application no. 33394/96, judgment of 10.07.2001).
For more information on the issue, see point 7 Situation of persons with disabilities in penitentiary
establishments.
43
CHR’s application to the CT of 29.08.2014, ref. no. II.519.344.2014.
44
CHR’s application to the CT of 21.01.2016, ref. no. KMP.571.83.2014.
45
Application no. 14322/12, judgment of 15 September 2015.
46
Application no. 5532/10, judgment of 16 February 2016.
41
42
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