CAT/C/44/2* preventive mechanism visits in action, with subsequent feedback and exchange of views. The workshop model arose from a meeting with a representative of the Estonian national preventive mechanism during the Subcommittee’s fifth plenary session and from a workshop carried out in Estonia during the reporting period. The model was piloted in 2009, as part of a programme supported by the Council of Europe and organized by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT). The Subcommittee is pursuing such avenues of support in order to fulfil its mandate under the Optional Protocol in the context of the continuing absence of any United Nations budgetary provision for this part of its work (see section VI below). 46. In the course of their visits during the reporting period, Subcommittee delegations met with representatives of the bodies designated to act as national preventive mechanisms in some of the countries visited. In Cambodia a meeting was held with various intergovernmental bodies that have been designated to develop the country’s national mechanism. In Honduras, despite the fact that legislation on the designation of a national mechanism has been enacted, its members had not been chosen at the time of the visit. 47. Members of the Subcommittee were also involved in a number of meetings14 at the national, regional and international levels, concerning the development of national preventive mechanisms. The Subcommittee members consider this part of their mandate so crucial that they have made every effort to be involved through self-funding or with generous support, including financial support, from the organizers – mainly international, regional and national civil society organizations. 48. On another issue, it is well known that there is a discrepancy between the various authentic texts of article 24 of the Optional Protocol, whereby States parties may make a declaration postponing the implementation of their obligations under either part III or part IV of the Protocol. The Arabic, Chinese, English and French versions provide that such a declaration may be made “upon ratification”, whereas the Russian and Spanish versions say “once ratified”. The matter was referred to the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which, having considered the question, initiated a correction procedure to bring the Russian and Spanish versions of article 24 into line with the other four authentic texts. Insofar as the majority of the States parties are not opposed to such a correction, the change will enter into force on 29 April 2010, with retroactive effect. The Subcommittee welcomed this clarification and the resulting certainty with regard to the nature of States parties' obligations under the Optional Protocol. B. Issues in relation to the establishment of national preventive mechanisms 49. In meeting their obligations under the Optional Protocol to set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment, States parties must choose the model they find most appropriate, taking into account the complexity of the country, its administrative and financial structure and its geography. Similarly, the States parties must comply with all the provisions of the Optional Protocol regarding the mandate and operation of their national preventive mechanism. 50. The national preventive mechanisms should complement existing systems of protection against torture and ill-treatment. They should not replace or duplicate the 14 GE.10-41876 For a list of activities related to national preventive mechanisms in which Subcommittee members participated, see annex V. 13