2016 was also the year when the CAT conducted its seventh periodic review of France. Every four years, the CAT reviews the effective implementation by the Member States of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, based on dialogue with the State, and talks with the national human rights institutions and civil society organisations. As the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), the CGLPL is now the Committee's voice of authority on the matter. As a result, the Chief Inspectorate forwarded the CAT a report drawn up on the basis of existing dialogue between France and the CAT, so as to contribute its insight on the questions raised by the latter in its field of expertise, and to shed light on new concerns regarding the application of the Convention against Torture. During the Committee's 57th session, in April 2016, the Chief Inspector was interviewed together with the CNCDH by the CAT during a private plenary session. She decided to put the following subjects on the agenda: - the high level of prison overcrowding and its consequences on prisoners' fundamental rights; - the uncertainties over the management of Islamist radicalisation in prisons; - the use of solitary confinement and restraint in psychiatric hospitals. At the end of this dialogue and these talks, the Committee commended, in i ts concluding observations, the strengthening of the CGLPL's powers by the Act of 26 May 2014. It also recommended that the State implement the CGLPL's recommendations along with all the means for enabling persons deprived of liberty to submit appeals to its services without the risk of retaliation. Lastly, the Committee drew on a number of the CGLPL's findings to ask France to make improvements in its main areas of intervention. Concerning the conditions of detention, prison overcrowding and its consequences, violence on the part of warders, difficulties encountered when filing complaints against such violence, factors contributing to the risk of suicide, prisoners' problems accessing mental health care and persisting recourse to full-body searches in an overly systematic manner are at the heart of the Committee's concerns. The Committee agreed fully with the Chief Inspectorate's recommendations concerning psychiatric institutions – a subject which, until now, had not been part of its dialogue with France. Unsatisfactory physical conditions, excessively frequent use of solitary confinement and mechanical restraint methods, the variable criteria underpinning the use of such practices and their lack of traceability, as well as insufficient informing of patients about their rights and appeal options now lie at the heart of its concerns. The Committee particularly asked that the Chief Inspectorate's recommendations on the Ain Psychotherapy Centre be implemented with the utmost u rgency. Over the course of 2016, the Chief Inspectorate got involved in several training initiatives. First of all, several members of the APT team, which provides NPMs with strategic and methodological advice, were able to participate in visits to prisons and psychiatric hospitals with a view to observing the institution's working method. This participation was an opportunity for holding discussions with the teams. The CGLPL also took part in the first summer university held for French-speaking NPMs organised by the APT and the Lyon Institute of Human Rights. Organised solely for Frenchspeaking NPMs, it was called "Strategies and methodology for monitoring detention by the police" and intended for some twenty participants from NPMs or human rights defence organisations. French and international experts were among the participants, and CGLPL members also attended, while an inspector was also one of the training leaders. In 2017, the CGLPL undertook to host 92