DOUBLE PUNISHMENT

take place. 172 When nurses obstructed the cameras in protest, they lost their
authorizations to work in prisons. Citing the requirement, for the confidentiality of
therapeutic activities, to ban CCTV cameras in a place of medical care, the inspector called
for their removal. The Minister of Justice responded that the decision to install the cameras
had been taken with the agreement of the chief of the SMPR and of the hospital to which
the SMPR is affiliated. 173 In her response in May 2015, the Minister of Social Affairs, Health
and Women’s Rights stated that the decision had been made unilaterally by the prison
authorities and that the cameras were still in place. 174 The case highlights the challenges
mental health professional can face in preserving the medical confidentiality of their
patients and providing mental health care in a prison setting.
However, there is a risk to the mental health of prisoners with psychosocial disabilities,
including self-harm, if prison staff and medical professionals do not communicate at all
and share necessary information with due regard to medical confidentiality, and both
parties should make efforts to work together in a climate of trust, having the prisoners’
right to physical and mental integrity as their priority.
172 Inspector of prisons, emergency recommendations of April 13, 2015, on the remand prison of Strasbourg,
http://www.cglpl.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Journal-officiel-de-la-R%C3%A9publique-fran%C3%A7aise-N%C2%B0-
110-du-13-mai-2015.pdf (accessed March 19, 2016).
173 Response by Christiane Taubira, then Minister of Justice, to the recommendations by the Inspector of prisons on her visit
to the remand prison of Strasbourg, April 27, 2015, http://www.cglpl.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Journal-officiel-de-la-
R%C3%A9publique-fran%C3%A7aise-N%C2%B0-110-du-13-mai-2015.pdf (accessed July 30, 2015).
174 Response by Marisol Touraine, Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Women’s Rights to the recommendations by the
Inspector of prisons on her visit to the remand prison of Strasbourg, May 6, 2015, http://www.cglpl.fr/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/Journal-officiel-de-la-R%C3%A9publique-fran%C3%A7aise-N%C2%B0-110-du-13-mai-2015.pdf
(accessed July 30, 2015).
DOUBLE PUNISHMENT 62