A case initiated with respect to norms that do not envisage that a towel and pillow should be provided for a person at a temporary detention facility
On 12 October 2021, the 3rd Panel of the Constitutional Court initiated the case “On Compliance of Para 2 of Section 7 (4) of the Law on the Procedures for Holding Detained Persons” and Annex 4 to the Cabinet Regulation of 10 January 2006 No. 38 “Regulations regarding Nutritional Provision Norms and Provision Norms of Washing Products and Personal Hygiene Products for Persons Placed in a Short-term Place of Detention” with the Second Sentence of Article 95 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia”.
The Contested Norms
Para 2 of Section 7 (4) of the Law on the Procedures for Holding Detained Persons provides that each detained person must be provided bedding (matress and blanket).
Annex 4 to the Cabinet Regulation of 10 January 2006 No. 38 “Regulations regarding Nutritional Provision Norms and Provision Norms of Washing Products and Personal Hygiene Products for Persons Placed in a Short-term Place of Detention” provides that the detained person is provided one toothbrush, toothpaste (20 ml per day), toilet paper (30 meter roll for 10 days), liquid toilet soap (40 ml per day) and, if necessary – sanitary napkins (10 pieces).
The Norm of Higher Legal Force
The second sentence of Article 95 of the Satversme (hereafter – the Satversme) provides: “Torture or other cruel or degrading treatment of human beings is prohibited.”
The Facts
The case has been initiated with respect to an application by the Administrative District Court. The Administrative District Court is adjudicating a case regarding recognition of the actual actions by the State Police, failing to provide to a person at a temporary detention facility living conditions envisaged in regulatory enactments, as being unlawful and granting compensation for non-pecuniary damages to the person. The applicant in this administrative case is a person who, in 2019, repeatedly had been in temporary detention facilities. Being dissatisfied with the living conditions in the temporary detention facility, he had turned to the State Police, requesting compensation for non-pecuniary damages, caused by the failure to provide a pillow and a towel to him. The State Police dismissed the applicant’s application, pointing out that the living conditions at the temporary detention facility complied with statutory requirements.
The Administrative District Court notes that the obligation to provide a pillow and towel to the detained person at the temporary detention facility does not follow from the contested regulation. It is said to be incompatible with the second sentence of Article 95 of the Satversme.
Legal Proceedings
The Constitutional Court has requested the Saeima and the Cabinet to submit to the Constitutional Court by 13 December 2021 a written reply, presenting the facts of the case and legal substantiation.
- The term for preparing the case is 12 March 2022.
The Court will decide on the type of proceedings for hearing the case and the date after the case has been prepared.
The decision on initiating the case is available here.
Linked case: 2021-40-0103