Country

Poland

Detention issue

FRA research findings

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Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Executive Penal Code (Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r. Kodeks karny wykonawczy)Cells in closed regimes are generally closed throughout the day and night. They may be opened only if it does not threaten the safety of the penitentiary unit. As a result, most of the prisoners held in such a regime spend a vast majority of their days closed. They are allowed to move around the penitentiary unit premises only in an organized way, under supervision of the prison service. Any educational, cultural or sport activities with their participation have to take place in the penitentiary unit, not outside. They are allowed to work outside the unit, but only with full supervision of the prison service. Cells in semi-closed regimes remain open throughout the day. They may be closed only at night. Prisoners are allowed to take part in educational, sport and cultural activities organized outside the unit. Cells in open regimes remain open 24 hours per day. Prisoners have a right to at least one hour of outdoor exercise. Outdoor exercises take place in exercising yards in the open air, under direct supervision of prison service officers.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2019The offer of activities addressed to inmates is very poor. Inmates of pre-trial detention centres may spend their time in cells and in day centres, they can watch TV, read books from a library, they can play board games and table football. In practice, interviews with inmates during a visit revealed that they spend most of their time in cells and leave them only to take a walk, which is the most attractive form of activity for them. The facilities may organize various interesting meetings, concerts or performances, but such events are only incidental. Report details
2022In the opinion of the NPM, the time spent by the detainees outside the residential cell is clearly insufficient. Prisoners have the possibility to take an hour walk once a day, to go to the dayroom on average once/twice a week for about an hour each. Prisoners in employment or studying may spend more time outside the cell. Persons in pre-trial detention are in a particularly difficult situation in terms of the activities carried out, as they only have the option of an hour's walk and an outing to a day-care centre. It is worth noting that it is not uncommon for pre-trial detention to last for a relatively long time (e.g. continuously for two years). Convicted prisoners (Article 88b of the Executive Penal Code) and pre-trial detainees (Article 212a of the Executive Penal Code) with the "N" [dangerous – ed.] status are in the most difficult situation. Despite the fact that Articles 88b and 212b of the Executive Penal Code provide for this group of detainees the possibility to work, study, directly participate in religious services, as well as enjoy cultural and educational activities, develop physical culture and sports, the NPM's experience shows that these types of activities are realised very rarely. For example, in one of the units visited, an inmate with “N” status did not benefit from a walk for a year and a half, although he claimed to have expressed his wish to do so; the unit’s records showed that this detainee had not gone for a walk for the entire period prior to the NPM's visit. According to the NPM, this state of affairs is due to the need to take more precautions, more Prison Service officers and to stop the traffic in the ward where this inmate is detained, which, combined with staff shortages in the Prison Service, has this exact effect. Report details
2023In several of the units visited, the visitors noted the walking plazas, which were sheltered on all sides by a high concrete wall with a net stretched over the top, with no possibility of a horizontal view. They were usually only equipped with a bench and a fragmentary canopy. There was a lack of exercise equipment or other equipment to enable outdoor physical activity. Many detainees indicated that they often do not go out for walks because they feel caged and do not feel much difference on them from being in a cell. Report details