CAT/C/PRT/CO/7 Confessions obtained through torture or ill-treatment 33. While taking note of the guarantees set forth in article 32, paragraph 8, of the Constitution and 126 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the inadmissibility of evidence obtained by torture, coercion and infringement of personal, physical or moral integrity, the Committee regrets that the State party has not provided it with examples of cases dismissed by the courts because of the submission of evidence or testimony obtained by means of torture or ill-treatment (art. 15). 34. The State party should: (a) Take effective steps to ensure in practice that confessions obtained through torture or ill-treatment are ruled inadmissible and investigated; (b) Expand specialized training programmes for both judges and prosecutors so as to ensure their ability to effectively identify torture and ill-treatment and investigate all allegations of such acts; (c) Develop training modules for the police and other law enforcement officers on non-coercive interviewing and investigation techniques; (d) Provide the Committee with information on any cases in which confessions were deemed inadmissible on the grounds that they had been obtained through torture or ill-treatment, and indicate whether any officials have been prosecuted and punished for extracting such confessions. Psychiatric institutions 35. As the delegation acknowledged, there are logistic problems in the State party’s psychiatric forensic units. The Committee therefore appreciates the efforts made by the State party to open new units, recruit additional staff and develop a “step-down” model of care. It also notes that the State party is currently reviewing its rules on the use of restraints in psychiatric establishments in light of the recommendations contained in the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on its 2016 visit to Portugal (arts. 11 and 16). 36. The State party should: (a) Ensure that involuntary psychiatric hospitalization is strictly necessary and proportionate and is applied as a measure of last resort and under the effective supervision and independent monitoring of judicial organs; (b) Guarantee legal safeguards for persons hospitalized involuntarily in psychiatric institutions; (c) Ensure that mental health services in the community are sufficient and adequately funded; (d) Ensure that means of restraint are used only as a last resort to prevent the risk of harm to the individual or others and only when all other reasonable options would fail to satisfactorily contain the risk. Asylum system and non-refoulement 37. The Committee takes note of the data provided by the delegation on the number of asylum applications received since 2016 and the corresponding recognition rates, which increased from 25.19 per cent in 2016 to 54.32 per cent in 2019. It also takes note of the information provided by the delegation on the number of persons returned between 2016 and 2018: 1,045, including deportees and returnees. It notes, however, that the State party did not indicate whether any appeals were lodged or provide information on the outcomes of any such appeals. The Committee is concerned that Portugal failed to meet its commitment to relocate 4,274 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece under a European Union relocation programme, since the State party accepted only 1,552 asylum seekers between 2015 and 2017 under the programme. The Committee regrets that the State party has not provided complete information on the procedures in place for the timely identification of victims of torture among asylum seekers (art. 3). 7