12 Background The tasks of the SPT, NPMs and states which have ratified OPCAT SPT tasks • Conduct visits and make recommendations • Publish an annual report • Support and advise NPMs • Make recommendations and communicate observations to states parties • Cooperate with international, regional and national human rights mechanisms NPM tasks State tasks • Conduct visits and make recommendations • Maintain, designate or establish one or several independent NPMs • Submit proposals and comments on existing or draft legislation • Provide an overview of all places of detention and grant access to them • Publish an annual report • Cooperate with the SPT, the state and international, regional and national actors detention. These places include prisons, police custody facilities, psychiatric institutions, child welfare institutions, the immigration detention facility and nursing homes. Visits to places of detention may be conducted without or without giving prior notice. The NPM is authorised to enter all places of detention and to conduct private conversations with persons deprived of their liberty. The NPM is also authorised to access all necessary information relating to the conditions of persons deprived of their liberty. During visits, the NPM seeks to identify factors relevant to the risk of violations through independent observations and conversations with affected persons. Conversations with persons deprived of their liberty are given particular priority. Based on the visits, the NPM can make recommenda- Norway’s National Preventive Mechanism – Annual Report 2014 • Provide information on the treatment and conditions of persons deprived of their liberty • Cooperate with the NPM and the SPT tions regarding prevention of torture and ill-treatment. As part of the prevention mandate, the Parliamentary Ombudsman also engages in extensive dialogue with national authorities, public control and supervisory bodies, other national ombudsmen, civil society actors, NPMs in other countries and international human rights bodies. An advisory committee has been established to provide the NPM with expertise, information, advice and input. The purpose of the advisory committee is to ensure that different voices are heard and that the NPM has access to helpful resources in the performance of its assignment. The committee is broadly composed and encompasses stakeholder and human rights organisations, research networks and experts on topics such as child welfare and psychiatry. This is further described in chapter 5.