Implementation of the Duties and Powers of the National Preventive Mechanism in 2012 During the visits of the NPM taking place in 2012, there were 11 officials of the Ombudsman’s Office (the Ombudsman herself included, who participated during some visits, and a trainee) and 19 representatives of NGOs under the contract participating in the visits; of these there were three representatives of NP, three representatives of PIS, five representatives of Primus, two representatives of RKS and six representatives of ZDUS. Primus and its members participated in 27 visits, ZDUS in 12, PIC in 10, RKS in 7 and NP in 3 visits. On the basis of special cooperation contracts the NPM continued to make use of the expertise of two (for the time being) external experts. The first one is an expert in education and psychology. She participated in all visits to juvenile facilities in which young persons are accommodated. After each visit she submitted her findings in writing in regard to the adequacy of educational activities carried out in these institutions and in regard to the adequacy of social care for children and young persons in these institutions from the point of view of preventing torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The second person is an expert in the field of medicine, specialising in psychiatry. She took part in the planned visits of places of incarceration (particularly in larger prisons and in the Aliens Centre) and submitted her findings in writing, specifically from the medical aspect, in regard to the health care and treatment of persons deprived of liberty, freedom from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. During visits, the selected organization continued to perform duties and powers with their own personnel (PIC - 5 persons, NP - 3 persons, ZDUS - 7 persons, RKS - 30 persons, and Primus 5 persons). They are trained for individual areas of supervision and are part of a group which is determined by the Ombudsman for each visit to perform the visit at the place of the deprivation of liberty and to monitor the treatment of persons who have been deprived of liberty. The time and place of the visit and the number of people involved in visiting a particular place of inspection is specified by the Ombudsman, taking into consideration the programme of visits adopted for this purpose in cooperation with the selected organisation. If necessary, other circumstances that might require an immediate visit are also taken into account. An exhaustive (final) report on the findings from each institution visited was prepared about each visit. This report also includes proposals and recommendations for the elimination of irregularities discovered and the improvement of conditions, including measures to reduce the possibilities of improper treatment in the future. Both, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office as well as representatives of selected NGOs and humanitarian organisations took part in the preparation of the final report. The final report on the NPM is produced on the basis of a response to the preliminary report, or after the visit performed, if a preliminary report is not produced before that. The final report is submitted on the Ombudsman’s behalf or on behalf of a person authorised by the Ombudsman for that purpose. The final report is submitted to a relevant authority, together with a proposal for the authority to take a stand in regard to the statements in the report and report them to the Ombudsman. An Ombudsman’s representative is generally responsible for the development of the final report although a person from the selected NGOs may also be selected for its production. (In 2012, it was Primus that took the responsibly for the production of four final reports on visits). Similarly to every person participating in the visit, persons from the selected NGOs or humanitarian organization prepare a short report on his/her own findings about the visit together with proposals which are a part of the final report on the inspection performed, On the basis of the final report, a response of the responsible body to it and potential additional standpoints of the NPM, a short report about each visit is prepared which is published on the Ombudsman’s web site. National Preventive Mechanism in the Republic of Slovenia under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 9