The Ministry of Justice announces changes in the functioning of the National Centre for the Prevention of Dissocial Behaviour (KOZZD) in Gostynin. By 2040, the hotel is to be extinguished, but what happens to those with personality disorder who endanger society?
Gostynin Centre: Changes on the way
The Ministry of Justice is working on reforming the operation of the Gostynin centre and its branch in Czersk. As stressed by Maria Ejchart, Deputy Minister of Justice, the aim is to improve the quality of life of patients and to introduce fresh regulations. Our goal is 2 issues. Firstly, a fast change that would affect the quality of life of patients in the centres in Gostynin and Chersk. But we are besides working (together with the Ministry of Health) to amend the bill. With the task we will be ready for the end of March," said Ejchart at a conference organised by the Ombudsman.
Post-penal dementia: ultima ratio
The intent of the amendments is to limit the usage of post-penal detention, i.e. to place persons in KOZZD who proceed to pose a threat to society after being sentenced to prison. We can't close this place. No way. We are able to make it a place where there will be a group of patients requiring therapy and isolation, but the request to extend their stay will be regularly reviewed – explained the Deputy Minister.
Gostynin Centre: extinction until 2040
The presumption is that the hotel in Gostynin and its branch in Chersk will be gradually extinguished. This facility must be extinguished. Given the statistic on the number of convicts who may inactive be sent to Gostynin, we hope that we can do so by 2040," Ejchart said. However, the question remains what to do with those who committed the crime after 2015. “For sure, the amendment to the KOZZD Act will should be combined with the answer to this question,” added the Deputy Chief Justice.
Post-penal detention problems
The KOZZD Act applies only to persons convicted before 1 July 2015. In the case of persons with personality disorder who committed crimes after that date, it is not possible to apply protective measures specified as placing in a psychiatric facility. – In order for post-penal detection to meet human rights standards, it must meet at least 2 conditions. Firstly, it must disagree importantly from prison sentences, so there must be another surviving conditions, etc. Secondly, its subjects must have specified therapeutic effects, which will make it possible to leave the centre real – explains Dr. Małgorzata Pyrkak-Górowska from the Jagiellonian University.
Gostynin Centre: practice deviates from the bill
The intention of the authors of the bill was to apply detention to a twelve people, perpetrators of the heaviest crimes, who were to leave the penal institution after serving long sentences. However, it shortly turned out that the hotel in Gostynin was overflowing, which forced the establishment of a branch in Czersk. – The courts did not have a problem with preventive imprisonment by placing persons who were sentenced to very short prison sentences in the KOZZD. At the same time, there was a crucial problem with the dismissal of specified people, even though the opinion of doctors and therapists employed at the centre pointed to the appropriateness of specified a step," added the expert.
What about those with personality disorder?
Dr. Pyrkak-Górowska emphasizes that the current problems arise not so much from the law itself as from its application. "It may be that the perpetrator of even a very serious crime has specified deep personality disorders that they will origin action in a state of considerable limitation of sanity. specified persons are convicted under Article 31(2) of the Criminal Code, which automatically means a lower degree of guilt and a lower penalty. The question is, what later, since post-penal protective measures of an insulating nature are not foreseen – says Dr. Górowska.
Summary
The hotel in Gostynin will be extinguished by 2040, but the question about the future of people with personality disorder remains open. The Ministry of Justice is working on changes to improve the quality of life of patients and to introduce fresh regulations. However, it will be crucial to find a solution for those convicted after 2015, who, due to personality disorders, may pose a threat to society.
Continued here:
The activity of the Gostynin Centre will be terminated
