Country

Poland

Detention issue

Protection against violence

FRA research findings

View details

Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Executive Penal Code (Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r. Kodeks karny wykonawczy)Prison officials should maintain order and discipline. Prison units may be supervised with a system of CCTV. CCTV cameras may be placed in residential cells, corridors, baths, visiting rooms, work places and exercise yards. The prison director is responsible for deciding which places should be included in the video surveillance system. All residential cells should be equipped with call buttons. The only protection measure indicated in the Executive Penal Code is the placement of a prisoner under special protection in conditions of increased isolation.
Act on the Prison Service (Ustawa z dnia 9 kwietnia 2010 r. o Służbie Więziennej)Prison officials should maintain order and discipline. Prisoners should be classified in order to create adequate conditions in penitentiary units, guarantee prisoners’ personal safety. During classification, several circumstances should be taken into account: gender, age, recidivism, deliberate nature of the crime committed by prisoners, the length of the sentence to be served, health conditions, addictions, degree of prisoners’ demoralization and threat to society, nature of the crime committed by the prisoners.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2017During one of the visits, NPM representatives came across a situation in which a prisoner had beaten another prisoner to death. Despite this, the prisoner was not isolated immediately after the offense, but only moved to another cell in which he remained for a few minutes with another prisoner. According to the NPM, it directly exposed the prisoner in the other cell to the risk of falling victim to aggression. In another unit, the NPM identified a prisoner who was deaf and mute. Due to the language barrier, this prisoner, was unable to communicate with prison service officers during conflicts with other prisoners, and therefore felt that his arguments were a lost cause. Report details