- 21 i. access to a lawyer 34. As regards access to a lawyer, the CPT’s delegation found once again that the legal obligation on police officers to grant detained criminal suspects immediate access to a lawyer is, in practice, not an effective safeguard against ill-treatment, as it may be ignored or circumvented without consequences. Most detained persons continue to claim that they only meet a lawyer at the first court hearing. The CPT calls upon the Greek authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement officials have effective access to a lawyer, as from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty; the Greek Bar Association should be consulted in this context. ii. access to a doctor 35. The CPT’s delegation found once again that access to a doctor was still not fully effective in practice. Access to a doctor remains dependent on the goodwill of law enforcement staff on duty30, and various persons who claimed to have been ill-treated told the CPT’s delegation that access to a doctor was refused or significantly delayed by police officers.31 As a safeguard against ill-treatment, as well as for reasons of public and individual health, the CPT has repeatedly advocated that the Greek authorities establish a system of regular visits by doctors to police (and border guard) stations to screen new arrivals and enquire whether there are detainees with potential medical problems. However, no action has been taken to date to put in place such a system. The CPT calls upon the Greek authorities to review the existing arrangements concerning the organisation of health care for persons held in police stations, in the light of the above remarks. 36. Further, persons suffering from mental illness in police custody should be provided with appropriate care; the findings of the CPT’s delegation indicate that such care needs to be strengthened. The delegation came across a person under a judicial deportation order in Chios Town Police Station; this person’s mental health had apparently deteriorated considerably due to his prolonged detention in police custody. At the suggestion of the CPT’s delegation, the psychiatrist from the local State hospital examined the detained person and issued an opinion to the effect that his mental health had indeed deteriorated. According to the Greek authorities32, this person was transferred on 3 October 2009 to a mental health institution in Athens. 30 31 32 At Omonia Police Station, in the course of six months there had been no visit from a doctor, despite several referrals to a hospital. A similar situation was found at Amfissa Police Transfer Centre. The woman referred to in case 2, paragraph 18 asked to be seen by a doctor, but her request was refused. See the response of the Greek authorities of 23 November 2009 to the preliminary observations made by the CPT’s delegation at the end of the 2009 visit.