31 Union of Turkish Bar Associations Review 2022 Süleyman ÖZAR professional organisations in some countries will require the doctor to intervene to prevent death as soon as the patient’s consciousness becomes seriously impaired. In other countries, the rule is to leave clinical decisions to the doctor in charge, after he has sought advice and weighed up all the relevant facts.”94 In the same vein, the Resolution of the Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers also endorses the Turkish legislation.95 It is important and necessary for the domestic legislations to contain provisions with respect to the actions that must be taken or avoided in case of a hunger strike at prisons. The Report on the Netherlands issued by the Committee against Torture of the Council of Europe in 2007 is a guideline on this matter. According to the Report, there must be clear and comprehensible rules regarding the steps to be taken in the event of a hunger strike at prisons, and these rules must make a substantive reference to the supervisory power conferred upon the health-care staff.96 In comparative law, many countries adopt an approach which deems necessary medical intervention with respect to a prisoner on hunger strike just after the strike entails a risk to the prisoner’s life.97 On the other hand, pursuant to “Law on Provisional Release on Medical Grounds” enacted in 1913 by England, which does not make any distinction between hunger strikes of a prisoner and a free person, the prisoners on a hunger strike are released when their health deteriorates.98 Through another law issued in 1974 in England, any medical 94 The Turkish version of the document is available at the UNHCR’s website: https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf. PDF?reldoc=y&docid=4d78827e2 (05.02.2021) 95 According to the Appendix to the Recommendation no. R (98) 7 concerning the Ethical and Organisational Aspects of Health Care in Prison, issued by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, “If, in the opinion of the doctor, the hunger striker’s condition is becoming significantly worse, it is essential that the doctor report this fact to the appropriate authority and take action in accordance with national legislation (including professional standards). The Recommendation is available at https://cte.adalet.gov.tr/Resimler/Dokuman/1982019151705tavsiye_ kararlari.pdf (05.02.2021). 96 The CPT’s Report on the Netherlands (2007), https://rm.coe.int/168069780d (07.02.2021). 97 Radu-Florin Geamanu, Hunger Strikes and Force-Feedıng in Prisons, Challenges of the Knowledge Society; Bucharest 2016, p. 64. 98 https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-study-the-right-to-vote/the-right-to-vote/winson-green-forcefeeding/cat-and-mouse-act/ (09.02.2021)
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