13 Hungary acceded to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, signed in Strasbourg on November 26, 1987, promulgated by Act III of 1995, on November 4, 1993; its provisions are to be observed as of March 1, 1994.26 The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter the “CPT”) has been established by Article 1 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. The CPT shall, by means of regular visits to the territories of the High Contracting Parties, “examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Following every visit, the CPT prepares a report containing, in addition to the facts discovered in the course of the visit, the comments of the body and its recommendations to the authorities concerned. The CPT met the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights for the first time during its 1999 periodic visit;27 since then, the CPT has visited the ombudsman institution during every visit paid to Hungary.28 I received the delegation of the CPT on October 20, 2017, during its “ad hoc” visit to Hungary.29 Since the provisions of the OPCAT do “not affect the obligations of States Parties under any regional convention instituting a system of visits to places of detention,”30 the CPT’s reports on its visits to Hungary are of major importance for me. When drafting the National Preventive Mechanism’s first-ever plan of visits, I relied on the conclusions of the CPT’s reports on its visits to Hungary, its recommendations made to the Government, as well as the latter’s response thereto.31 The comprehensive standards32 of treating persons deprived of their liberty, worked out by the CPT, interpret the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, stipulated in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, from the aspects of the practical operation of various places of detention (e.g., prisons, police lock-ups, psychiatric institutions, detention centers for refugees) and various vulnerable groups, such as women and juveniles. 1.3. Preventive activities of the National Preventive Mechanism The “Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall perform fundamental rights protection activities” 33 which also cover the enforcement of the prohibition of torture, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment. Pursuant to Article 2.1 of the UN Convention against Torture, “each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.” “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency,”34 or “an order from a superior officer or a public authority”35 may be invoked as a justification of torture. In the opinion of the Constitutional Court, the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment is an absolute prohibition, and “thus no other constitutional right or task may be weighed against it.”36 See Section 3 of Act III of 1995 The first Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights (Ombudsman) was inaugurated on July 1, 1995. 28 Information related to the CPT’s visits to Hungary may be found at: http://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/hungary 29 The press release on the CPT’s “ad hoc” visit to Hungary from October 20 through October 26, 2017, may be found at: www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/cpt-returns-to-hungary-to-assess-the-situation-of-foreign-nationals-detained-under-aliens-legislati-2 30 Article 31 of the OPCAT 31 See CPT/Inf (2014) 13 and CPT/Inf (2014) 14 32 See CPT standards CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 - Rev. 2015 33 Article 30(1) of the Fundamental Law 34 Article 2.2 of the CAT 35 Article 2.3 of the CAT 36 Chapter IV, Clause 2.4 of Constitutional Court Decision 36/2000 (X. 27.) AB 26 27