The Right to Say Goodbye and Permission to Leave a Penitentiary Facility

This study discusses the right to say goodbye regarding the possibility of visiting seriously ill relatives and attending their funeral. Such a right shall apply for prisoners and is protected not only by Polish law, but also by international law, both in the form of hard law provisions, i.e. the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as soft law, i.e. European Prison Rules and Nelson Mandela Rules.In this article we can find, the genesis of the right to say goodbye, which was presented by referring to individual judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Following, the subjective scope of the right to say goodbye was articulated by indicating the authorized entities – who are beneficiaries of this right – and entities deprived of the possibility to use the permit to leave the prison. At the end, guarantees were emphasized to protect the entity against violations of the right to say goodbye.