Publication highlights Introduction 22. Eighteen CPT visit reports were published in 2016, confirming once again the well-established trend of states deciding to lift the veil of confidentiality and place the Committee’s findings in the public domain. As of 31 December 2016, 354 of the 396 reports drawn up so far have been published. A state-by-state table showing the current situation as regards publication of CPT visit reports is set out in Appendix 6. 23. The CPT hopes that the clear message given by the Committee of Ministers in February 2002, encouraging “all Parties to the Convention to authorise publication, at the earliest opportunity, of all CPT visit reports and of their responses”, will be heeded by the authorities of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. So far, only two out of the ten reports on the CPT’s visits to Azerbaijan have been made public. In 2013, the Russian Federation agreed to the publication of the visit reports on the CPT’s 2011 ad hoc visit to the North Caucasian region, as well as on the 2012 periodic visit to the Russian Federation, while out of the remaining 20 visit reports, 19 have not yet been published. The Committee is keen to pursue its work in these countries, through close co-operation with the authorities and informed dialogue with all other relevant interlocutors. Obviously, the publication of the CPT’s reports would greatly facilitate this process. 24. As the CPT has repeatedly emphasised, authorising publication of documents related to visits can be seen as an important means of co-operating with the Committee. During 2016, Austria, Finland, Monaco and Sweden informed the CPT of their decision to authorise in advance the publication of all future CPT visit reports and related government responses, unless they decide in a given case to postpone publication for a period of up to six months. This brings the total number of states having endorsed this “automatic publication procedure” to eight, the previous four countries being Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The CPT welcomes the above-mentioned decisions, and invites other states to follow the same approach. ► Page 15