At its 1514th DH meeting, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined again the execution of the L.B. group of cases and the pilot judgment W.D. v. Belgium. This group, the first judgment of which dates from 2012, concerns violations resulting from the prolonged detention of internees in prison psychiatric wings, which do not offer care appropriate to their mental pathologies, and the absence of an effective remedy in this respect.
The Committee of Ministers adopted an interim resolution, expressing its deep concern that this structural problem still persists after 12 years despite undeniable recent efforts by the authorities, and urged them to increase their efforts to resolve it as soon as possible.
In view of the steady increase in the number of internees in prison since 2019 and the clear insufficiency of the measures taken and planned to extend the regular external mental health care circuit, the Committee urged the authorities to adopt all relevant measures to remedy the growing recourse to internment. It also invited them to speed up the creation of places outside prisons and to reinforce the outpatient care services for inmates. Finally, the Committee urged the authorities to continue to improve and reinforce this care for internees, pending their transfer to suitable facilities.
The Committee of Ministers decided to resume the examination of this group of cases in March 2026 and strongly encouraged the authorities, in the meantime, to strengthen their dialogue with the Secretariat.
