Correctional institutions to invite media representatives to participate in a search. Such procedures should be rejected due to the inappropriate infringement of the inmates’ right to privacy. With respect to Graz-Karlau correctional institution, the Federal Ministry stated that representatives of the media were given precise instructions before the start of the police raid regarding how they were to act and emphasising that the privacy of inmates and employees must be protected. It also stated that photographing the correctional institution was not permitted until after request and prior review and only in the presence of an employee of the directorate for prisons and detention. The NPM was assured that representatives of the media only took staged photos of the inmate cells at Graz-Karlau correctional institution and were not present during the “actual” official action. The NPM also determined that representatives of the media were present at the Stein correctional institution when inmates were led from their inmate cells for body searches. Infringement of basic rights Searches of inmate cells and body searches are (non-public) official actions taken in the exercise of public power prerogatives. It is well known that searches of inmate cells and body searches necessarily involve infringements of the inmates’ right to privacy. The infringement of privacy rights is only justified if it is sanctioned by law, pursues one or more of the goals set forth in Article 8 (2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and is necessary. Under the principle of proportionality, infringements of privacy rights must be kept at a minimum. In the view of the NPM, the presence of representatives of the media at searches of inmate cells and body searches is incompatible with these clear constitutional requirements. The presence of representatives of the media during searches of inmate cells and body searches should clearly be avoided as a precautionary measure – regardless of whether any infringement of inmates’ privacy is discernible in a specific case. XX Incidents may not be repeated  Measures must be taken to ensure that no media representatives are present during searches of inmate cells and body searches. 129