10 Background or suffering to have been committed intentionally (e.g. not the result of mischance or accident), and in the course of the exercise of power. The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The fact that torture has major consequences which are often difficult or impossible to remedy makes preventive efforts very important. Accordingly, in 1987, the member states of the Council of Europe adopted the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Norway ratified the convention in 1989. The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment introduced a system by which a supranational visiting body, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), visits places of detention. The CPT consists of independent experts with backgrounds from fields such as law, medicine and psychiatry. The CPT regularly visits places of detention in states which have ratified the convention. These visits may be conducted with or without prior announcement. The CPT has visited Norway five times, most recently in May 2011. Following each visit, the CPT drafts a report containing recommendations and comments addressed to the responsible authorities. The CPT has also developed comprehensive standards on the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.1 These standards operationalise the prohibition against torture as defined in article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They include standards for prisons, police custody facilities, psychiatric institutions and immigration detention facilities, and contain separate provisions on vulnerable groups such as young adults and women. The standards are also relevant for the preventive efforts required by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY Article 4.2 of the Optional Protocol defines deprivation of liberty as: “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.” Norway’s National Preventive Mechanism – Annual Report 2014 abbreviated as OPCAT, was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2002. The motive was the same as for the adoption of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: a desire to strengthen efforts to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Like the European convention, the OPCAT does not contain a new legal standard, but it defines new work methods for preventing torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. The Norwegian parliament approved Norway’s ratification of the Optional Protocol on 14 May 2013. States which have ratified the Optional Protocol undertake to maintain, designate or establish one or several independent national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) to conduct regular visits to places where persons are, or may be, deprived of their liberty, with the aim of preventing torture and ill-treatment.2 The national preventive mechanisms also have power to make recommendations following such visits, and to make proposals and comments on existing or draft legislation.3 The Optional Protocol also established an international monitoring body working alongside the national preventive mechanisms: the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, abbreviated to SPT. The SPT comprises 25 independent experts, and may make both announced and unannounced visits to any place of detention in states which have ratified the Optional Protocol. The SPT is also mandated to give advice and guidance to national preventive mechanisms and to coordinate its work with international and regional human rights mechanisms such as the CPT, the CAT and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The SPT’s mandate and relationship with the national system of visits is set forth in OPCAT.4 These parallel national and international monitoring bodies are intended to complement one another and have a mutually reinforcing effect in the context of preventing torture and ill-treatment. As of 31 December 2014, 76 states had ratified the