CAT/OP/CHL/1/Add.1 Criminal Defender Service, the Public Prosecution Service and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will hold meetings to identify the various aspects of torture that require the development of joint instruments, such as protocols. These policy documents will be in effect by mid-2017. 3.1.3 Training on the Istanbul Protocol 83. Paragraph 28 (c): Since the Subcommittee considers the Public Criminal Defender Service and the Attorney General’s Office to be institutions that play a critical role in the detection of torture and ill-treatment, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party: train all relevant justice officials to ensure the proper application of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) at all times and at all stages of criminal proceedings. 84. The recommendation states that judicial officials should receive training on the Istanbul Protocol. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights believes that the training programme should be extended beyond judicial officials to officials of the Public Criminal Defender Service, which is part of the justice sector. 85. The Public Criminal Defender Service has therefore decided to incorporate specific training in this area into its 2017 Annual Training Plan. Every year, the Public Criminal Defender Service holds four workshops for defence counsels on general criminal defence, two general workshops, one workshop on juvenile criminal defence, one on prison defence and one on the defence of defendants from indigenous communities, as well as regional and/or thematic training sessions. In 2017, at least one module on the origin, foundation, functioning and procedures of the Istanbul Protocol will be included in each of the workshops included in the 2017 Annual Training Plan. The specific dates of these 2017 training sessions will be established in the respective annual training plan. 86. For delivering these modules, the Public Criminal Defender Service does not rule out requesting collaboration from other services in the justice sector, such as the Forensic Medical Service, the institution that applies and deals with the Protocol. 3.1.4 Use of plea-bargaining procedures 87. Paragraph 31: The Subcommittee recommends that the State party undertake a thorough evaluation of the use of plea-bargaining procedures, ensure that the rights to defend oneself in court and to due process are effectively enforced and ensure that no pressure of any kind is exerted on accused persons to convince them to plea bargain. 88. The Public Criminal Defender Service will gather information in order to conduct a diagnostic analysis of plea-bargaining procedures. This will mainly be done by supplementing statistical information from the Public Criminal Defender Service itself with information requested from the judiciary, which will allow for a diagnostic analysis to be made of all cases resolved in this manner. The Public Criminal Defender Service will use the diagnostic analysis to draw up a work plan for addressing the issues brought to light by the information gathered. 3.1.5 Use of the prosecution support system 89. Paragraph 34: The Subcommittee recommends that the Attorney General’s Office instruct prosecutors to refrain from using information from the prosecution support system in a manner that violates due process. 90. As this matter is under the exclusive competence of the Public Prosecution Service, the recommendation was brought to its attention so that, within its powers and remit, it could assess the merits of the recommendation. The Government reiterates that, although international human rights obligations fall on the State, this does not mean that the fulfilment of such obligations cannot be organized in such a way as to respect the separation of powers and autonomy granted to the Public Prosecution Service by the Constitution. 18 GE.17-07762