Overview of the National Preventive Mechanism commission heads and the commission members expires on 1 July 2021 and a public vacancy notice including viewing all of the applications as well as the subsequent planning and scheduling of the hearings have to be completed before the new candidates can start their work . 1.5.2 Six regional commissions The commissions The NPM entrusts its multidisciplinary commissions (see Annex) with the tasks they have to perform to fulfil the NPM’s responsibilities. If required, the regional commissions may involve experts from other specialist areas provided that members of another commission are not available for this purpose. The commissions are organised according to regional criteria. They usually consist of eight members and one commission head respectively. 1.5.3 Human Rights Advisory Council The Human Rights Advisory Council was established as an advisory body. It is comprised of representatives from NGOs and federal ministries as well as representations from the Laender (see Annex). The Human Rights Advisory Council makes recommendations on NPM’s work, which however is operated autonomously by the NPM. Its expertise is consulted in selecting monitoring focal points and working on specific human rights topics which, based on the observations of the commissions, relate to problems that exceed the scope of isolated cases. 1.6 International cooperation The Austrian NPM is always interested in a spirited sharing of experience with other NPMs. Measures depriving the liberty of immigrant children In preparation of his report to the 75th meeting of the UN General Assembly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants requested contributions on the topic of measures that deprive liberty with a special focus on the custody of immigrant children. The NPM explained the legal provisions and political initiatives in Austria and provided information on examples of good practice. 41st meeting of the SPT In June 2020 the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (SPT) convened at a public meeting, which could be followed online, for the first time. Ibrahim Salama, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in his opening speech. The SPT was unable to make any visits during the quarantine period. They were nevertheless active and provided practical help to the NPMs on pandemic-related topics. The SPT Chairperson, Malcolm Evans, reported that the OPCAT visiting programme was suffering 19