16 Competencies of the Protector of Citizens in the area of the protection of the rights of persons deprived of liberty prescribed by the Law on the Protector of Citizens coincide with the mandate of the NPM envisaged under the Optional Protocol. The explanations to the proposed law establishing the NPM64 envisaged ensuring all material conditions necessary to fulfil the mandate of the NPM, specifically for the employment of necessary number of officers within the Technical Service of the Protector of Citizens, as well as securing necessary funds as earmarked line within the budget of the Protector of Citizens 65. 4. Methodology, resources and organization of the NPM in the course of 2015 4.1. NPM Methodology Serbian NPM exclusively has preventive approach when performing its activities. NPM does not oversee legality or regularity of the work of the competent authorities in certain cases, it rather timely informs the organizational unit of the Protector of Citizens which acts upon the complaints filed by persons deprived of their liberty. Serbian NPM pays visits to the institutions where persons deprived of their liberty are placed, in line with the methodology set in advance. Methodology of the work of the Serbian NPM is based on the provisions of the Optional Protocol that set the NPM mandate for frequent visits to the institutions where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. NPM methodology recognizes the following three types of visits: regular visits so as to make follow-up as per compliance with the recommendations (follow-up visits), thematic and extraordinary visits (ad hoc visits). Visits may be announced and unannounced. The Serbian NPM Methodology pays special attention to the application and realization of unannounced visits to the institutions where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. After the initial period, for which the objective determined under the Methodology was to pay regular visits to all institutions, the plan for the subsequent period was to increase the number of the follow-up visits. Monitoring of the state of affairs determined during the previous regular visits is thus enabled, particularly actions of the competent authorities taken in line with the issued NPM recommendations. The methodology of the Serbian NPM is focused on follow-up visits to the places of detention. As a part of the preparation for a visit to an institution, the available information about such institution are being considered. All tasks are then assigned, in a way that a team to pay the visit, as a rule, is divided into four thematic groups – the first one is in charge of the accommodation conditions (group for observation of accommodation conditions), the second one considers fulfilment of the legal protection within the institution (legal group), the third group is considering treatment of persons deprived of their liberty (treatment group), and the 64 65 Law on the Amendments to the Law on Ratification of the Optional Protocol against Torture Proposal to the Law on the Amendments to the Law on Ratification of the Optional Protocol, Explanation