CAT/C/39/2 page 68 assisted, increase in the number of public examinations to become a Defender and a concomitant increase in the number of defenders. In 2004, three states in the Federation did not possess Public Defender offices. After the passing of the Constitutional Amendment 45; 2004, two of them already established their offices (São Paulo and Rio Grande do Norte), and the only one remaining is Santa Catarina. The states of Paraná and Goiás have Legal Aid services but those are not organized as Public Defender offices. Within the Public Defender office of the Union, 169 Public Defender jobs were created and filled. 292. In the states where the matter still depends on regulation and Public Defender offices have not yet been created, the defense of those in need is done through Judicial Assistance Attorneys or similar agencies, or else by lawyers appointed by the judge to perform this duty. 293. Important laws were passed at the sub-constitutional level, especially the express legitimization of the Defender offices to initiate collective legal suits to defend their clients and the change in the Code of Penal Procedure to require the police authority the immediate communication to the judge, to the person’s family (or the person appointed by him) and to the Public Defender any arrest in flagrante delicto in cases where the arrested person has no lawyer. “187. The Committee members also observed that specific initiatives have been taken at the state and federal level to combat the practice of torture, such as the “National Permanent Campaign for Combating Torture and Impunity” launched by the federal Government and civil society but regrettably discontinued in 2003. The campaign has been criticized by many NGOs as being highly ineffective.” 294. Taking into account the limits and wants detected during the National Permanent Campaign Against Torture and Institutional Violence, the Brazilian government has elaborated and is implementing in eight pilot states (AC, AL, PB, PE, RS, DF, ES and PI) the integrated action plan against torture. 295. The guiding principles of the action plan against torture are: actions aiming and rendering more difficult the practice of torture, increase the risk of punishment and remove excuses for that practice; adoption of measures aiming at strengthening the victim, avoid or mitigate friction in confrontations and relationships, to enable effective vigilance (personal and environmental) and make the offender less likely to commit the crime; development of integrated actions, articulating initiatives developed in the different police corps, public prosecutor offices, public defender offices, judicial agencies, jails, detention centers, penitentiaries, units of internment of adolescents and the civil society. 296. In this context, the plan produced a profound change in previous strategies by adopting an inter-sectorial, integrated and systemic approach to operate managerial and organizational changes, professional procedures, practices, attitudes norms and values that allow the development and consolidation of a culture of integrity within the institutions. The intention is to reinforce the inclinations of public agents to resist opportunities for abuse of power and force and toward tolerance for abuses associated with their jobs and functions. In this sense the Term of Adherence, to be signed by public and private institutions in the places where the Plan is being introduced, requires the commitment to create an Inter-sectorial State Committee to monitor the execution of the plan at the local level.