Overview of the National Preventive Mechanism 1 Overview of the National Preventive Mechanism 1.1 Mandate The Austrian NPM is based on authorisation granted under the Constitution and in a general legal context. The AOB and its six multidisciplinary commissions regularly and extensively monitor public and private institutions that are classified as “places of deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Article 4 of the OPCAT” nationwide and on a regular basis. The main responsibility of the NPM is to detect structural deficits that can lead to cases of maladministration. Additional preventive competencies of the NPM pursuant to Article 148a (3) of the Federal Constitutional Law are the inspection of institutions and programmes for persons with disabilities (Article 16 (3) of the UN CRPD) as well as monitoring and concomitant control of the authorities empowered to exercise direct administrative power and coercive measures. These preventive competences can overlap with the OPCAT mandate and/or complement it. The commissions conducted 495 visits in 2017. Most initial visits were to psychiatric institutions, medical facilities, retirement and nursing homes, child and youth welfare facilities. Many classic places of detention, such as correctional institutions, police stations and police detention centres, were also visited on a number of occasions. All visits are conducted pursuant to a monitoring methodology developed by the NPM and according to uniform standards. The specifications for the monitoring framework and methodology can be accessed on the AOB homepage (http://volksanwaltschaft.gv.at/en/ preventive-human-rights-monitoring). 95 visits by the commissions The efficacy of the NPM also depends on its acceptance by the institutions and facilities and their responsible operators or owners. As a rule, the competent authorities and administrative departments, but also the management of private institutions and facilities, have willingly complied with their obligation to engage in constructive dialogue with the NPM (under Article 22 of the OPCAT). The implementation called for by the NPM was considered in greater detail in different working groups. In addition to the monitoring work, the commissions held 21 round-table meetings with institutions or their senior administrative departments. Working groups and round-table meetings The NPM worked with educational institutions in 2017. As already announced in the 2016 report, a training module on the work of the Austrian NPM was implemented in the two-year police training programme. Members of the commissions and AOB staff members held eleven classes in 2017; additional courses are already set for 2018. Prison guards have also been receiving instructions on the preventive and ex-post control work of the AOB as part of their training since 2017 (2017: four classes). Police training and prison guard training 13