CAT/C/POL/CO/7
United Nations
Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Distr.: General
29 August 2019
Original: English
Committee against Torture
Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of
Poland*
1.
The Committee against Torture considered the seventh periodic report of Poland
(CAT/C/POL/7) at its 1759th and 1762nd meetings (see CAT/C/SR.1759 and
CAT/C/SR.1762), held on 23 and 24 July 2019, and adopted the present concluding
observations at its 1776th meeting, held on 5 August 2019.
A.
Introduction
2.
The Committee welcomes the dialogue with the State party’s delegation and the oral
and written replies provided to the concerns raised by the Committee.
B.
Positive aspects
3.
The Committee welcomes the ratification of the following international instruments
by the State party:
(a)
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, in 2014;
(b)
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence, in 2015;
(c)
The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, in 2015.
4.
The Committee also welcomes the State party’s initiatives to revise its legislation in
areas of relevance to the Convention, in particular:
(a)
Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure that eliminated the authority
to refuse to make files available in connection with remand or the extension thereof; that
established that complaints against pretrial detention must be examined no later than seven
days from the date of the transmission of the complaint to the court; that extended the time
allowed for the submission of bail bonds, which may result in converting pretrial detention
into an alternative measure; that ensured that pretrial detention was not extended beyond 12
months if the custodial sentence does not exceed 3 years, or beyond 2 years if the custodial
sentence does not exceed 5 years; and that made it possible to use the assistance of an
interpreter for communication between the suspect or the accused and his or her attorney,
which entered into force on 1 July 2015;
* Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-seventh session (22 July–9 August 2019).
GE.19-14751(E)