The current statistics show that there is a particular and increased risk for prisoners in court custody. Detainees are especially vulnerable and in need of protection shortly after they are brought into police detention centres or police stations. Therefore, measures should be specified to identify this risk as early as possible in the first hours of detention and to protect the affected persons against themselves. Particular attention should be paid to the construction of the inmate cell and to surveillance of the detainees by the guards. The presence of other prisoners and the opportunity to speak with them can also act as a preventive mechanism. Consideration should be given to equipping inmate cells for persons in administrative detention with technical devices (e.g. shatter-proof parabolic mirrors) so that the guards can see the entire cell from outside. Video surveillance of cells for persons in administrative detention can also make sense. All inmate cells should be designed so that it is difficult to mount instruments of strangulation. Detention in single cells should be the exception for persons in administrative detention and must always be justified on a case-by-case basis. Persons in administrative detention are at special risk In the opinion of the NPM, the initial examination of the detainee by police physicians is very important in identifying the risk of suicide at an early stage. Shortly after detention, but generally before being transferred to a police detention centre and the conduct of the medical examination upon admission, detainees fill out a medical history sheet (= health questionnaire). It is available in more than 40 languages and contains questions about the condition of the detainee’s health. Therefore, this information is provided by the detainee himself and is an important aid in determining whether urgent measures may have to be taken. Initial examination and medical history sheet The NPM has already fully addressed verbal communication between detainees and physicians in the last reporting year and has recognised structural deficiencies (see NPM Report 2014, pp. 125 et seq.). Good communication is necessary to properly evaluate the state of the detainee’s health. An assessment of the mental state of a prisoner – including any danger to himself/herself or proneness to suicide – requires a precise verbal exchange with the prisoner being examined. However, this can only be conducted in a language that the examiner and the examinee have sufficiently mastered. Otherwise, an interpreter or a bilingual person must be called in. Language barriers in the medical area The Federal Ministry of the Interior gave its assurance that – if necessary – physicians would be provided with interpreters when assessing whether a person is fit to undergo detention or other medical matters. Apart from calling in professional interpreters, fellow prisoners or bilingual return counsellors are also used for translation. However, in practice, there may still be communication problems between detainees and medical personnel. Certain improvements are expected from the use of a video interpreting service, which has already begun at the Vordernberg detention centre and is also planned in Vienna, Burgenland and Tirol starting in February 2016. However, in this area the decisive factor will ultimately be whether physicians make use of this opportunity or not. Therefore, the NPM will 126