36 THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN 2.e. Institutional interventions In this section, as in the context of the Special Report of the NPM9 of 2017, there are interventions which, according to the letter of the law, do not refer to the specific competence of the NPM but to the general responsibility of the Ombudsman, since these interventions resulted from reports from citizens rather than from the NPM’s control initiatives, and their handling was carried out not with the legal instruments of Law 4228/2004 but with those of Law 3094/2003, i.e. through mediation and intervention at the relevant ministries and development of legal arguments for a change in the attitude of such ministries to specific individual cases. Nonetheless, it is vital to include this report in a summary form as the subject matter of the Ombudsman's general concern for the rights of detained persons in detention facilities, and is therefore related to the subject matter of the NPM. i. Welfare Allowance for Disabled Detainees The long-standing position of the Ombudsman10 that a custodial sentence is not a negative condition for the granting of welfare benefits to people with disabilities, if the other legitimate conditions are met, was ultimately justified by the issuing of a relevant report. The competent Social Protection Administrations of some municipalities have excluded prisoners from receiving a severe disability allowance, on the grounds that their allowance is not justified since their living expenses have already been borne by the State. The Ombudsman, addressing the Ministry of Labour and referring to Opinion 60/1999 of the Legal Council of the State, asked for a resolution of the issue in the light of the principles of legality, fairness and legitimate trust. Prisoners are not inpatients or inmates of a public nursing or welfare institution, which might be preclude them from receiving a severe disability allowance. In addition, even if detention facilities are to meet basic subsistence and care needs, they do not have the necessary infrastructure to meet the individualised needs arising from disability, nor do they aim to do this.11 In response to this, the Ministry clarified to all municipalities that they must grant preferential disability benefits to persons serving a custodial sentence. 9 The Greek Ombudsman, Annual Special Report NPM 2017, pp. 23-25 https://www. synigoros.gr/resources/opcat_2017_gr.pdf 10 The Greek Ombudsman, Report “Welfare Allowance for Disabled Detainees” https:// www.synigoros.gr/?i=human-rights.el.fulakes.530716 11 The Greek Ombudsman, Annual Report 2017, p. 168 https://www.synigoros.gr/resources/ee2017-p00.pdf