Country

Estonia

Detention issue

Healthcare

FRA research findings

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Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Internal Rules of Prison (Vangla sisekorraeeskiri)All the prisons have their own medical departments. General and specialised medical services are provided by prison medical departments. When the prison does not have the specific specialists in the premises, medical aid is provided in the closest public hospital. The prisoner notifies the staff of his or her medical needs and on the basis of it, they are provided the medical care as soon as possible during the working-hours of the medical services. There is an emergency medical doctor in duty at all times providing emergency medical care. When necessary, the medical services prescribe medicines and they have to be consumed under the observation of the staff.
Imprisonment Act (Vangistusseadus)All detainees must be guaranteed the availability of emergency care 24 hours a day. In prisons, there are medical departments which provide emergency care and other health care services. Medical officers of prisons are required to supervise the state of prisoners' health on a constant basis, treat them in prison to the extent possible and, if necessary, refer them to treatment at relevant providers of specialised medical care.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2016NPM commented that a suspicion remained that handcuffs were used to escort pregnant women from the prison to hospital for childbirth and subsequently during return to prison. Prison officers are present at childbirth, male officers also stay with the woman in a postnatal ward, sometimes around the clock. The Chancellor asked the prison to organise supervision of women at birth by using different measures. Report details
2020The Chancellor of Justice (Õiguskantsler) pointed to the following problem after an inspection visit to the Tallinn Open Prison: The detainees and employees of the Tallinn Open Prison described that in order to receive health care services, the detainees had to go to the medical department located in the closed part of the prison, which takes an unreasonably long time. The closed prison is entered in the usual order and all normal operations (incl. search) must be performed upon entering and leaving. If it is possible for the prison to arrange doctor’s visits more smoothly, this must be done to protect the health of the prisoners. The prison should reorganise the provision of medications prescribed by a doctor to detainees so that the medications would only be distributed by health professionals. Report details