10 CPT: 11TH GENERAL REPORT Meetings 9. The CPT held three plenary sessions during 2000, in the course of which 14 reports (covering 15 visits) were adopted: on visits to Austria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Norway, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) in 1999, and to Cyprus, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, the Russian Federation (North Caucasian region) and Turkey in 2000. Once again, the expedited procedure for the adoption of visit reports proved its worth. 10. At its 42nd meeting (July 2000), the CPT established a working group entrusted with carrying out a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Committee's working methods. In this connection, there is a generally-held view within the Committee that it must seek to give a sharper focus to many of its visits and make them more targeted. At the same time, the heavy and timeconsuming reporting procedure must be rationalised. The CPT must also enhance its capacity to react rapidly to events as they happen and, in particular, to ensure a presence on the spot when emergency situations arise; for many, this is the litmus test as regards the Committee's credibility. 11. At its 43rd meeting (November 2000), the CPT established another working group entrusted with monitoring the evolution of the Committee's jurisprudence. This working group will seek out possible inconsistencies in the CPT's jurisprudence on specific matters and identify areas in which there is room for development of the jurisprudence. Reference should also be made to the President's hearing before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly on 13 June 2000. There was a most useful discussion on possible synergy between the CPT's activities and the action of the Parliamentary Assembly. One idea invoked was to have the Parliamentary Assembly debate the CPT's work on a regular basis. This could certainly help to raise public awareness about the Committee's activities and thereby increase their impact. Publications 15. In the course of 2000, eight CPT reports were published by the Committee, at the request of the governments concerned: on visits to Andorra (in 1998), Moldova (in 1998), the Netherlands (in 1999), Norway (in 1999), Spain (in January 1997 and in 1998), Turkey (in 1999), and the United Kingdom (in 1997). Many interim and follow-up responses of governments were also published during the year. 16. At the time of writing, 74 of the 111 visit reports drawn up to date by the CPT have been published. Many of the remaining 37 visit reports have only recently been forwarded to governments and will in all likelihood be published in due course. A Stateby-State table showing the situation as regards the publication of CPT visit reports is set out in Appendix 2 12. The practice of organising information seminars in States which are relatively new Parties to the Convention has continued. Such a seminar took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 17 and 18 January 2000. It is particularly noteworthy that the Turkish authorities have recently authorised the publication of all CPT visit reports concerning Turkey which have not yet been placed in the public domain, together with their responses. 13. The CPT has also pursued the practice of direct, high-level discussions between State authorities and representatives of the Committee. Discussions of this kind were organised in Athens on 20 November 2000, in order to examine in detail the authorities' responses to various issues raised in the reports on the CPT's visits to Greece in 1997 and 1999. Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 14. CPT representatives have continued to participate in many meetings organised by intergovernmental and non governmental organisations, in order to speak about particular aspects of the Committee's work. The CPT was also honoured that its President was invited to attend the European Ministerial Conference on Human Rights held in Rome on 3 and 4 November 2000. 17. In the course of 1999, the ICTY asked whether the CPT would consider accepting the task of monitoring, in certain States, the treatment of persons serving sentences imposed by the Tribunal. The CPT was honoured that the Tribunal sought its assistance and, having regard to the great importance of the Tribunal's work, decided to respond favourably to its request. An exchange of letters between the Tribunal and the CPT regulating this matter was finalised in November 2000. The exchange of letters is reproduced in Appendix 5.