The CGLPL was consulted along with other NPMs, international organisations and associations for comments on the draft instrument. It adopted a standpoint shared with the other independent experts, advocating an approach that was more centred on human rights. The initial draft codifying instrument fell short of the existing standards: the rules proposed concerning vulnerable people did not go far enough in terms of protection, with it being possible to admit children into detention, in the same way as provisions bearing on avenues of appeal, rights of communication and visits and the rules concerning disciplinary measures, use of force and admissible methods of restraint. Moreover, sources had not been used, including the OPCAT for example. The objective of immigration detention had to be clarified, and in addition to reference to Article 5 of the ECHR and its principle of proportionality, details had to be added to exclude short detention periods that serve no purpose and misuse of procedures for example. Beyond consultations in the company of other experts, the CGLPL also submitted a written contribution and was selected to be heard by the European Committee on Legal Co-operation. It was able to voice the same concerns before the CDCJ Chair, text writers and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Migration and Refugees. The new version of the text has not yet been published. On another note, the CGLPL also took part in an international conference on immigration detention of children, organised by the Council of Europe in Prague. Part of the Council of Europe's Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children, this conference was an opportunity to discuss the need for an alternative to detaining children. Visit from the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities From 3 to 13 October 2017, France received the first visit from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Ms Catalina Devandas-Aguilar. She was appointed at the end of 2014, following the United Nations Human Rights Council's decision to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has been elected for a ten-year term. She visited various facilities which accommodate people with disabilities, including two mental health institutions (one psychiatric hospital and one unit for difficult psychiatric patients). During one meeting, the Chief Inspector presented to the Special Rapporteur the violations of fundamental rights observed during institutional inspections in the following areas: provision for mental disabilities in penal institutions, involuntary care in mental health institutions, and physical disability in penal institutions. The Special Rapporteur's preliminary observations included remarks on the situation of disabled people in France. First and foremost she finds that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not sufficiently taken on board as an institutional reference. What is more, she maintains that "current attempts to meet the needs of people with disabilities are extremely specialised and isolated, made according to a silo mentality", which continues to fuel "the misunderstanding according to which disabled people are "objects of treatment" rather than "subjects with rights". Regarding sectioning, the Special Rapporteur is strongly critical of the number of autistic patients or patients with psychosocial disabilities being subjected to involuntary care. She also points out that judicial oversight operated on the basis of the legality of hospitalisation is not proving effective. Additionally, she finds that "many people with disabilities remain in a psychiatric hospital for long periods of time. The absence of local support means that some are subsequently placed in long-stay facilities where they spend the rest of their lives." 109