Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2015 of treatment is generally based on statements given by judicial police officers themselves. Attention was drawn to such treatment by the ECHR in its decision on Dolenec vs. Croatia (2009), in which it found that the procedural aspect of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights was violated. Although all reports on use of means of coercion, including those containing statements of prisoners claiming that judicial police officers had hit them, are delivered also to the competent judge of execution, according to information obtained during the visits there were no cases where the judge requested additional clarifications or sought to investigate the prisoners’ allegations of possible inhuman or degrading treatment. The fact that a proactive approach on the part of judges is required has also been pointed out by CPT in its standards, indicating that even without explicit complaints, in cases where there is suspicion that a person has been victim of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, it is necessary to order an investigation by a medical expert and to determine all the facts. This obligation pertains equally to physicians as well as to other staff members of the prison system. Without adoption of this type of proactive practice the danger will remain that potential violations of fundamental human rights will not be processed and sanctioned, which is unacceptable. Prisoners’ complaints Prisoners’ complaints are still not responded to in the legally prescribed time, and the responses are usually superficial and general. Furthermore, the decision on appeal against the decision on disciplinary measure is also not made in the legally prescribed time, and procedures initiated based on requests for court protection last too long in some cases. Records on filed complaints are not kept in all penal institutions, and according to statements of some prisoners, complaints are not filed for fear of negative consequences. Until this situation changes significantly, legal remedies available to persons deprived of their liberty who are in the prison system will not be effective. Therefore, in order to strengthen the efficacy of legal remedies, it is necessary to introduce changes in the legal framework, educate officials and prisoners and publicly condemn any determent or prevention of filing complaints. Elderly persons deprived of their liberty In recent times, the number of elderly persons deprived of their liberty has been increasing, which is why methods of their serving of prison sentence, as well as the accommodation conditions, should be adapted to their specific needs in all penal institution. No country that has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights has a prescribed maximum age limit for one to be deprived of his/her liberty. However, the ECHR finds that when a country deprives a person in a serious health condition of his/her liberty, it has to pay special attention to providing the conditions in which he/she will be held or, in other words, those conditions have to suit this person’s specific needs. 26