npm annual report 2016 / activities 2.1 Visits The role of an NPM requires conducting regular visits. The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman has made a conscious effort to increase the number of visits carried out. In 2014, the Office carried out a total of 111 visits, which was nearly 25 per cent more than in the year before. During 2015, the NPM’s first full year of operation, the Office conducted a total of 152 visits, of which 82 within the NPM mandate. A clear majority of these were carried out unannounced. Visits conducted outside the mandate of the NPM may concern facilities that closely resemble the places visited in the role of the NPM (e.g. certain residential units for the elderly and reception centres for asylum seekers). In the second year of operation, it was no longer possible to increase the number of visits without additional human resources. The aim has been to ensure that the quality of visits remains high because that has an impact on their effectiveness. In 2016, the total number of visits was 115, of which 56 were carried within the mandate of the NPM. A few follow-up visits were also conducted during the year. Of all visits, 31 were carried out completely unannounced. One facility was notified in advance that the visit would be conducted during the next two months. An external expert participated in seven visits, which were targeted at the following units: geriatric psychiatry wards of a psychiatric hospital, a psychiatric hospital, psychiatric wards of a central hospital, a police prison, a unit for persons with intellectual disabilities, a prison and an outpatient clinic of the Prisoners’ Health Care Unit. So far, the NPM has conducted only a few visits during ‘inconvenient’ hours, e.g. in the evening, at night or during weekends. Evening visits have mainly been made to social welfare units for minors to better ensure the presence of children and adolescents. In the health care sector, visits have been conducted in the evening to inspect the secure rooms of emergency care units. A new collective agreement for public servants has entered into force at the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The agreement allows compensation to be paid to those who conduct visits outside office hours. This will likely help diversify the times of conducting visits. The task of the NPM has increased the focus on interviews with persons deprived of their liberty. At the places visited, efforts have been made to interview those who are the most vulnerable, such as foreign nationals. In practice, this has led to an increase in the use of interpreters. Interpreters have participated in particular in visits to prisons and detention units for foreigners. The aim is to establish a separate pool of interpreters for the visits conducted by the NPM, selecting interpreters who are familiar with the environment and the related vocabulary. This will also help improve the quality of interviews. Effective remedies were the special theme for 2016 in the field of fundamental and human rights at the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. During visits, special attention was given to customers’ and their families’ access to effective remedies, such as objections, complaints and appeals. The Ombudsman has not yet adopted a special theme for the visits conducted by the NPM. However, individual visits may have focused on specific themes or targeted certain vulnerable groups. 11