How do you complain about conditions in the place of detention and ask for compensation?
When detained on remand you are held in a prison for detention on remand (in Slovak ústav na výkon väzby). You have the right to be held in conditions that are not inhumane or degrading. Read more about the conditions in a place of detention.
General complaints within the Prison Guard
If you believe that the conditions at the prison for detention on remand violated your rights, you can complain about this to the head of the prison or to the prosecutor who supervises the legality of detention in places where personal freedom is restricted. The second option is not conditioned by exhaustion of the first. You may contact directly the prosecutor. However, some conditions may depend on objective possibilities or some organisational changes of the prison. Therefore, you may get faster improvement of conditions you complain about.
Your complaint according to the Act on the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps must not cause you any harm or any revenge of the prison guards or the head of the prison for detention on remand.
The investigation finds out the true state of affairs and evaluate compliance with the law, including regulations on conditions in detention on remand. If it is found that the complaint is justified and that the law has been violated, corrective measures must be taken and the reasons for the situation must also be described.
You have the right to receive a written response to your complaint within 30 working days, if it is not complex or hard to investigate due to some objective reasons. In such a case the term for response may be prolonged for next 30 working days.
Appeal
If you are not satisfied with the written response of the prison, you can appeal it within 15 days to the Directorial-General of the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps and request following investigation of your complaint. Its review shall take not more than 30 days.
Since the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic controls and monitors the manner in which the complaint of persons in detention on remand are investigated, you may also write a complaint directly to the Ministry, if neither the head of the prison nor the Directorate-General does not accept your complaint and conditions are not changed.
If it is not possible to seek improvement of your conditions within the prison, you can turn to national (and later also to international) bodies that monitor conditions in places with restrictions on personal freedom.
Complaints to the Public Prosecutor`s Office
The most important of national authorities is the Public Prosecutor's Office, which oversees the legality of conditions in places of restriction of personal freedom. In this regard, it is possible for a detained person to file a complaint about the conditions of detention with the locally competent regional prosecutor's office, whose prosecutors are authorized to enter prison, communicate with the complainant and investigate the actual conditions of detention. The written communication with the Public Prosecutor's Office must not be supervised by the prison. Each prison for detention on remand must have a box for complaints addressed to the prosecutor's office in a place accessible to detainees. Only the prosecutor opens this mailbox.
The law does not stipulate deadlines or a precise procedural rules for performing this supervision.
Complaints to the Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsperson)
The treatment of persons deprived of their personal liberty may also be the subject of a complaint addressed to the Office of the Public Defender of Rights. The Ombudsperson is entitled to visit facilities where personal liberty is restricted and to act in order to investigate the treatment of persons in custody, to ascertain the state of affairs and to recommend remedial action to the competent authorities. The complaint should describe as concretely as possible the facts which, in your opinion, infringed your law during the detention.
The Act on the Public Defender of Rights does not provide time limits for the Public Defender of Rights to process complaints. The speed of the investigation depends on the amount of information provided, the urgency and the complexity of the matter. In order for your complaint to be assessed urgently, it is necessary to state specific facts and actions that lead to an interference with your rights. The correspondence with the Ombudsperson must not be supervised by the prison.
Read more about a complaint to the Ombudsperson.
Complaints about medical care
If you were seen by a doctor during your detention on remand or if you were treated in the Hospital for accused and convicted in Trenčín and you were not satisfied with the quality of the treatment received, you have the right to file a complaint with the Health Care Surveillance Authority.
The complaint must be submitted in writing and must be signed. It must also include the name and surname of the applicant, the name of the medical facility and a detailed description of the problem. The Health Authority shall notify the applicant in writing of the commencement of supervision. However, the deadline for its completion is not set by the law.