[Some brief commentaries about enforced medical care for prison inmates]

A decision by the National Court in October 2005 declared that the Ministry of the Interior (General Directorate of Prisons) held pecuniary liability as a result of a concurrence of guilt between a deceased prison inmate and the prison Administration. It was observed that the prison health care staff had acted correctly when checking, diagnosing and monitoring the illness of the patient before and during admission. However, when faced with repeated refusals by the inmate to accept the prescribed treatment, they had to take suitable regulatory measures to comply with the terms of the indicated treatment with authorisation from the prison director. The Administration has a clearly established and undeniable liability to care for the life, integrity and health of prison inmates when a direct and immediate risk is observed, using force if necessary to deal with prolonged pathological conditions. This may bring about restrictions of the inmate's rights beyond those considered to be strictly necessary and lead to him/her being subject to the use of enforcement measures that are conceived of and designed for purely exceptional circumstances.