under Protocol No 32 of 8.09.2010 the Council of Ministers adopted the Programme for improvement of conditions in detention facilities and the Action Plan for implementation of the programme. It is envisaged that the Minister of Justice shall submit to the Council of Ministers a report on the implementation of the programme on an annual basis. In art. 43, para 3 of the LIPSD it is envisaged the minimum living space per prisoner to be not less than 4 square meters. Entry into force of this provision has been postponed until 1st January 2019, by amending § 13 of the Supplementary Provisions of the LIPSD (promulgated in the State Gazette, issue 103/2012). In this connection it should be borne in mind that this approach is incompatible with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the pilot judgment of the above court of 8th January 2013 under the case “Toreghiani and Others versus Italy”, claaim No 43517 / 09 on overcrowding in Italian prisons. The amount of daylight, the level of artificial lighting, heating and ventilation, access to toilets and running water, and a minimum of furnishing bedrooms are determined by PALIPSD. In the Regulation implementing the law it has been also found out that the maximum number of inmates that can be accommodated according to the available living space are specified for each prison and reformatory. Our national legislation has no mechanism to ensure such standards due to the lack of space for housing prisoners. By the amendment of the LIPSD in December 2012 a possibility was established in case of lack of capacity the prisoner to be relocated to other prison nearby. The NPM believes that this independent measure is almost impractical at this stage because of existing overcrowding in all prisons. Excluding the two correctional institutions for juveniles and the Prison for Women in the city of Sliven, all prisons in Bulgaria are overcrowded, i.e. there are less than 4 square meters per prisoner. Poignant example in this regard is the prison in the city of Burgas, where prescribed area is 1 square meter per inmate. And it is not free area but living area, in which beds and tables are installed. The architecture of the old prisons does not allow creation of conditions for individual work and requires additional supervisory staff to ensure the safety of inmates and the prison. Construction of toilets has led to a reduction in the residential area. A reconstruction necessitates the gradual release of individual passages, leading to even more overcrowding. The NPM opinion is that in most prisons reconstruction is impossible in practice. It would improve conditions, but will not solve the problem of overcrowding. The improvement will be partial and can not meet all the required standards. Indicative in this respect is that already built bathrooms in the dormitories, which walls do not reach the ceiling, now need to be reconstructed on the recommendation of the CPT. The NPM believes that there is an urgent need in building new prisons and prison dormitories. In order to tackle the issue with the new living areas the new government programme of 2008 provided for the construction of five new prisons in the cities of Sofia, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo, Varna, Haskovo with a total capacity of 5,900 inmates. Necessary funds only for that part of the programme amount to approximately 300 million Bulgarian levs. 11 Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism | OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA