be noted that the criminal procedure law allows the use of electronic equipment of sound and/or image recording during interviews.199 Accordingly, there is no impediment to the pilot implementation of this recommendation. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture recommends to introduce continuous electronic (audio and/or video) recording of police interviews, which is an important additional safeguard against torture and ill-treatment.200 In the third recommendation, the Public Defender called on the Ministry to install surveillance cameras in all parts of police departments, divisions and stations, where witnesses and persons voluntarily invited to an interview may be present. This recommendation has not been implemented. The monitoring conducted by the Special Preventive Group showed that surveillance cameras in police departments, divisions and stations do not fully cover all the areas where citizens or detainees may be present.201 In the fourth recommendation, the Public Defender requested the continuation of the process of equipping police officers with upgraded body cameras and gradual equipment of officers of territorial bodies with upgraded body cameras like patrol police officers. This recommendation has been endorsed by the Parliament of Georgia and has been reflected in its resolution. The recommendation has not been implemented. The monitoring carried out by the Special Preventive Group showed that officers of the territorial bodies had not been equipped with upgraded body cameras.202 According to the reply received from the Ministry, steps are being taken to improve the technological capacities of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, including in terms of equipping police officers with body cameras, which is welcomed by the Public Defender. In the fifth recommendation, the Public Defender requested that the obligation of patrol inspectors to record (video) their communication with citizens, as well as the procedure and period of keeping the recordings, be specified in a subordinate normative act. The recommendation has not been implemented. The Ministry's reply reads that the patrol inspectors of Patrol Police record their communication with citizens by their body cameras in a standard situation, although it would not be relevant to specify such an obligation of the patrol inspector in legislation, as the above may prevent the latter from quickly responding to an offence due to specific circumstances in certain cases. The Public Defender believes that when determining the obligation of patrol inspectors to record their communication with citizens, it is possible to indicate exceptional cases, such as urgent response to an offence, provided that the patrol inspector will later justify the non-use of the body camera. 199 Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia, Article 113, part 9. Report to the Government of Cyprus, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, CPT/Inf (2018) 16, 26.04.2018, para.16, available at: <https://rm.coe.int/16807bf7b4> [last accessed: 03.01.20]. See also the Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the United Nations General Assembly, E/CN.4 / 2003/68, 17 December 2002, para. 26 (g). 201 For more information, see the chapter audio and video recordings/documentation. 202 For more information, see the chapter on audio and video recording/documentation. 200 74