should ensure the right of a prisoner to his private correspondence to the related authorities. CPT considers ensuring the correspondence about any claims of illtreatment or the information to the corresponding authorities and taking additional measures in this regard. Thus, “apart from the possibility for persons to lodge complaints directly with the agency, it should be mandatory for public authorities such as the police to register all representations which could constitute a complaint; to this end, appropriate forms should be introduced for acknowledging receipt of a complaint and confirming that the matter will be pursued”.55 The outcomes of the monitoring of the application of instruments of restraint as well as the analysis of the legislation show that the institution controllers can abuse their powers during application of such special instruments. This closely interlinked with the lack of the related legal norms and to this end, the possibility of persons in police custody to be subjected to ill-treatment or punishment increased. In this regard, the Commissioner recommends bringing “the Guidelines on Security Measures and their Application in the Penitentiary System of Azerbaijan“ in comply with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, European Prison Rules and the CPTs standards in relation to determining the duties of the penitentiary staff members while applying such an instrument of restraint as well as the application methods.56 The complaints addressed to the Ombudsman by the prisoners also reflect the impediments with regard to bureaucratic hindrances to the access to lawyers and the fact that despite an agreement about legal aid exists between the requested person and a lawyer, it was required a letter of authorization issued by the Penitentiary Service. It is necessary to eliminate such cases and to take preventive measures. During the visits to investigation isolators held by the NPG, it was found that the criminal investigation authorities more and more have ordered the measure of restraint for the accused persons. Taking into account the abovementioned, the Commissioner considers necessary to focus on restraint alternatives of defendants in criminal cases instead of the conviction,57 particularly, juveniles, pregnant women, and women with infants, PWDs, and the elderly must be given privileges. 55 14th General Report on the CPT's activities, CPT/Inf (2004) paras. 28-38 UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, para. 33; European Prison Rules, paras. 68.2 and 68.3; 57 Article 9 (3) of the International Coventant on Civil and Political Rights states that “Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a 56 60