16 1. The legal background of the operation of the National Preventive Mechanism According to the OPCAT, the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment may be ensured not through judicial means but via regular, preventive visits to the various places of detention. In the system established by the OPCAT, regular visits are undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.23 Pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Protocol, “deprivation of liberty means any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority”. The OPCAT has established the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. One of the main tasks of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture is to inspect places where persons are deprived of their liberty; on the other hand, it advises and assists States Parties, when necessary, in establishing and operating their independent national bodies conducting regular visits to places of detention.24 From the aspect of the operation of the National Preventive Mechanisms and in addition to the general directives25 of the Subcommittee, the specific directives and recommendations26 made in its reports on the Subcommittee’s visits to the States Parties are also applicable. I received the Report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture about its first visit to Hungary which contained its conclusions and recommendations concerning the activities of the NPM on 8 December 2017.27 1.2.2. Instruments of the Council of Europe Pursuant to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, promulgated by Act XXXI of 1993 (hereinafter the “European Convention on Human Rights”), “no one shall be subjected 23 24 25 26 27 See Article 1 of the OPCAT. See Article 11 of the OPCAT. SPT: Guidelines on national preventive mechanisms (CAT/OP/12/5); SPT: Analytical self-assessment tool for National Prevention Mechanisms (CAT/OP/1/Rev.1); Compilation of SPT Advices to NPMs. The documents are available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/ Pages/Brief.aspx See: SPT: Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Maldives, (26 February 2009) (Clause 72/c of CAT/OP/MDV/1) SPT Visit to Hungary, 21-30 March 2017: Conclusions and Recommendations for the National Preventive Mechanism (CAT/OP/HUN/R.2). Available at: www.ajbh.hu/opcat-SPT-jelentes-2017