Mendez rules translated into Polish after Commissioner for Human Rights' request to the Minister of Justice
Date:
In May 2021, international guidelines on how officers should conduct interviews and gather information ('Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering') - known as the Mendez Principles after their author - were published.
The Mendez Principles provide an effective alternative to inappropriate interrogation and information-gathering methods. Drawing on scientific research, practitioners' experience and taking as a fundamental premise the need to protect human rights, they propose to conduct interviews based on relationship building. They also contain procedural safeguards, which reduces the risk of torture and can help to improve the outcome of investigations and other intelligence-gathering activities, increasing trust in state institutions. They show that the methodology and culture of investigative and intelligence bodies based on pressure, manipulation, coercion and even torture does not work and is detrimental effect to establishing the truth. They should therefore be disseminated to practitioners, those responsible for developing and implementing laws, rules and guidelines on interrogation and information gathering, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and the public.
The Mendez Principles are an internationally recognised document. They have been recommended by the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council, the Committee Against Torture (CAT), the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), among others.
The Commissioner for Human Rights informed the Prime Minister about the publication of the Principles, stressing their importance, the need to translate them into Polish and to disseminate them among subordinate ministries and the public.
In response to the letter requesting the translation and dissemination of knowledge about the Mendez Principles among the relevant ministries, institutions, and professional self-governing bodies for educational and training purposes, the Ministry of Justice has commissioned the translation of document to Polish.
In February 2025, thanking for the translation of the Mendez Principles, ZRPO Wojciech Brzozowski asked the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Maria Ejchart, whether they have already been made available to the relevant ministries, services, institutions, and professional self-governing bodies for educational and training purposes.
https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-zasady-mendeza-przetlumaczenie-ms-odpowiedz
