Section One Context About OPCAT The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002. Its adoption reflected a consensus among the international community that people deprived of their liberty are particularly vulnerable to ill-treatment and that efforts to combat such ill-treatment should focus on prevention. OPCAT embodies the idea that prevention of ill-treatment can best be achieved via a system of independent and regular visits to all places of detention for the purpose of monitoring the treatment of and conditions for detainees. States which ratify OPCAT are obliged to designate a ‘national preventive mechanism’ (NPM), a body or group of bodies which regularly examine the treatment of people deprived of their liberty, make recommendations and comment on existing or draft legislation, all with the aim of improving the treatment and conditions of detainees. To carry out their role effectively, OPCAT requires that NPMs be, above all, independent. They should also be adequately resourced to perform their role, and their personnel should have the necessary expertise and be representative of the communities in which they operate. OPCAT also sets out the powers which NPMs should have. These include the ability to: • access all places of detention • conduct interviews in private with detainees and other relevant people • choose which places they want to visit and who they want to interview • access information about the number of people deprived of their liberty, the number of places of detention and their location • access information about the treatment of and conditions for detainees. Implementation of OPCAT in the UK The UK ratified OPCAT in December 2003 and designated its NPM in March 2009. During the designation process, the UK government took into account the fact that an NPM need not be a single entity but may be made up of several constituent parts. The government considered which bodies already existing in the UK performed functions analogous to those of an NPM and explicitly required that, to be designated as part of the UK’s NPM, the bodies have a statutory basis and be able to make unannounced visits to places of detention. The government concluded that 18 bodies operating in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland met these requirements and, in a statement to Parliament on 31 March 2009, formally designated them as the UK’s NPM. The government also noted that additional bodies may be added to the NPM in the future. Currently, the UK’s NPM is made up of the following bodies: England and Wales Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) Independent Custody Visiting Association1 (ICVA) Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) Care Quality Commission (CQC) Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England (OCC) Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) 1 Although the Independent Custody Visiting Association is listed as an organisation operating in England and Wales, its membership includes independent custody visitors who operate in Scotland. 7