Education on Detainees' Rights and Their Consistent Implementation in Practice Is Essential
On 4 and 5 June 2026, Ivan Šelih, Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman and Head of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), and Katarina Vučko, an NPM member, attended the 27th Days of Criminology and Security Studies conference in Bohinjska Bistrica.
The Days of Criminology and Security Studies is Slovenia’s leading national conference in the field of security. It is intended for professionals dealing with security-related issues and protection matters within the Slovenian police, ministries responsible for internal affairs, defence or justice, customs authorities, other branches of the state administration, private security and detective agencies, local communities, and business entities. It is also intended for individuals engaged in topics falling within the broader field of criminology and security studies.
In the Police Activity panel, Šelih and Vučko presented a paper entitled Respect for Procedural Rights in Police Detention: Between the Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Practice. The paper analysed the implementation of procedural rights based on a series of thematic NPM visits conducted in 2025, using two complementary approaches:
- interviews with individuals who had recently been detained and had previously undergone police detention; and
- a review of detention files at police stations.
The NPM plays an important role in monitoring respect for procedural rights in police detention, which are crucial safeguards against torture and other forms of inhuman treatment. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) emphasises that access to a lawyer, notification of a relative or another person, and access to medical assistance must be guaranteed from the outset of detention.
The findings of the thematic visits suggest that the identified violations are not isolated incidents but rather indicate a broader systemic challenge of incomplete respect for the procedural rights of persons in police detention. Of particular concern were the findings regarding the failure to provide information on rights, disregard for detainees’ decisions concerning the exercise of individual rights, and discrepancies between detainees’ statements and police records, which often failed to properly document such decisions and requests.
The paper therefore highlighted the need for continuous training of police officers, a thorough understanding of the importance of procedural rights, and a clear commitment to ensuring their consistent implementation in practice.
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