33 Pursuant to Section 39/B(4) of the Ombudsman Act, in the hearing, “apart from the person who is given a hearing, no other person may participate, unless the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights authorized their participation.” Interviews are usually conducted with no witnesses present; in exceptional cases, members of the security personnel may be present outside hearing distance. The visiting delegations try to conduct tête-à-têtes but, occasionally, group hearings are conducted as well. In the case of persons deprived of their liberty who, due to their age, state of health, or any other circumstance, are not able or willing to give an account of their detention-related experiences, the visiting delegation inspects the conditions of their placement. The persons deprived of their liberty, unlike the head and the personnel of the place of detention concerned, are not compelled to cooperate with the visiting delegation. The objective of the members of the visiting delegation is to meet, if possible, all persons deprived of their liberty currently staying on the premises. The members of the visiting delegation make notes on all hearings conducted with both the persons deprived of their liberty and the personnel of the given place of detention. The interviewees, should they be members of the staff or visitors, are always notified that no one shall suffer any disadvantage for providing information98 to the NPM. 5.2.4. Document inspection Pursuant to Section 39/B(3) of the Ombudsman Act, the NPM may “inspect without any restriction all documents concerning the number and geographical location of places of detention, the number of persons deprived of their liberty who are held there, on the treatment of these persons and on the conditions of their detention, and make extracts from or copies of these documents.” Prior to starting the inspection, the head of the visiting delegation hands over the list of those documents that he/she or any member of the delegation wishes to inspect or make copies thereof. If, during the visit, inspection of additional documents or making extracts from or copies of those documents becomes necessary, the members of the visiting delegation shall notify thereof the competent staff member of the given place of detention. In the absence of prior notice, the staff members of the places of detention cannot prepare for the inspection; therefore, they often cannot immediately present some documents or make the requested copies by the end of the visit. Should it be the case, the requested documents shall be presented to the NPM within the deadline set by the head of the visiting delegation, which may not be shorter than fifteen days. 99 In 2017, I received all the documents required for performing the tasks related to the NPM within the statutory time-limit. 5.2.5. Concluding the visit The 2017 visits by the NPM lasted between four hours and three days. All the visits were concluded, stressing partnership, by giving feedback to the personnel of the given place of detention.100 During the feedback session, the members of the visiting delegation summarize their experience gained in the course of the visit, including the documents inspected and/or copied, and point out what See Section 39/E of the Ombudsman Act Pursuant to Section 21(1) of the Ombudsman Act „in the course of his inquiries the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may request data and information from the authority subject to inquiry on the proceedings it has conducted or failed to conduct, and may request copies of the relevant documents”. By virtue of Section 21(1)a) of the Ombudsman Act, “the request of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights pursuant to points a) and b) of subsection (1) shall be complied with within the time-limit set by the Commissioner. The time-limit may not be shorter than 15 days.” 100 See Clause 27 of the SPT’s Analytical assessment tool for national preventive mechanisms (CAT/OP/1/Rev. 1.) 98 99