-56 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) level. The golden rule of detention monitoring is that monitors should base their work on such standards, which are the most protective. It would be in fact unlawful for a national human rights institution to do otherwise, in so far as the legally binding instruments at the national and at the international level are concerned. Where national standards are higher than those of the international law, they would normally provide the basis of monitoring work of NPMs and international law would not only allow but would also encourage this. Where international legal standards are more protective, the national constitutional framework would usually require that international law prevails. Moreover, in the majority of European states, international legal standards are directly applicable into the national system, also where they contradict national law. With regards to international “soft” standards, they of course cannot be cited as legally binding norms. But nothing should prevent NPMs to adopt them as a basis of their work and of their recommendations to the national authorities. NPMs and national human rights institutions in general are expected to lead in implementing ever more progressive standards of human rights protection. This should be their role in every European country. NPMs are expected not only to assess how the reality of detention complies with the law, but to also recommend changes of the law in order to achieve better protection in a constantly and progressively evolving system. HM Inspectorate of Prisons, acting as the NPM in the United Kingdom, developed criteria for assessing the treatment of children and conditions in prisons. These are regularly updated. The document formulates standards in four spheres embracing all aspects of imprisonment starting with the travel from the courtroom and ending with the release. These include: safety, care, purposeful activity, and resettlement. In each of these spheres the document states the expectations of monitors and indicators which should be fulfilled in order to meet these expectations. These indicators are based on a wide variety of standards – the norms of national law, as well as the standards of the ECHR, ICCPR, CRC,