22. The two standing subgroups of
the CPT, the Medical Group and the
Jurisprudence Group, continued to
meet on the Sunday before each plenary meeting. The Medical Group examines substantive issues of a medical
nature related to the CPT’s mandate
and organises training sessions on the
specific tasks that medical members
of visiting delegations are required to
perform. The task of the Jurisprudence
Group is to advise the CPT on innovations and possible inconsistencies in the
Committee’s standards as reflected in
visit reports and to identify areas where
there is room for development of those
standards.
23. Ad hoc working groups can also be
established to examine specific topics.
For instance, one such working group
analysed issues related to the monitoring
of the deportation of foreign nationals
by air (return flights), and a delegation
of the CPT took part in a return flight in
December (see paragraph 11).
Contacts with other bodies
24. The CPT continued to promote
contact with other bodies within the
Council of Europe. For instance, on
23 November, the CPT’s President
attended an informal meeting of the
Presidents of monitoring bodies, organ
ised by the Secretary General, with the
aim of ensuring a better co-ordination
of the activities of the different moni
toring mechanisms operating within the
Council of Europe.
Further, co-operation was reinforced
with the Parliamentary Assembly, in
the form of three exchanges of views;
one in Paris on 18 March with the
Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs
and Human Rights, one in Strasbourg
with the Committee on Social Affairs,
General Report of the CPT, 2015 ► Page 10
Health and Sustainable Development
on “Putting an end to coerced sterilisations and castrations”, and one in Sofia
on 27 November with the Standing
Committee on issues of common interest. Furthermore, an exhibition displaying photographs of the CPT’s work in
the field was held during the autumn
session of the Parliamentary Assembly
(28 September to 2 October).
Reference has already been made to
the CPT’s exchange of views with representatives of the Pompidou Group
during the plenary meeting in June/
July. Further, as in previous years, regular contacts were maintained with the
Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights and staff of his Office on
matters of common interest.
Representatives of the CPT took part in a
number of Council of Europe activities, in
particular the meetings of the Working
Group of the Council for Penological
Co-operation (PC-CP) in April and
September; the second and third meetings of the Council of Europe Drafting
Committee on prison overcrowding,
held in March and October respectively; a meeting of the Committee of
Experts on the operation of European
Conventions on co-operation in criminal
matters (PC-OC) in November to discuss
assurances required as regards prison
standards in extradition procedures
with non-European states in particular;
the 20th Council of Europe Conference
of Directors of Prison and Probation
Services on radicalisation and other
strategic challenges, held in Bucharest
on 9 and 10 June; and a Round Table
on the implementation of the CPT’s
recommendations and the pilot judgment Neshkov and Others v. Bulgaria
in Sofia, on 9 and 10 July, organised
by the Department for the Execution
of Judgments of the European Court