Correctional institutions 2.5 Correctional institutions 2.5.1 Introduction The NPM visited 38 facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders in the year under review. In addition to the visits, it is important to the NPM to seek regular contact with representatives of the authorities. Besides a contact meeting in the Federal Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice, the annual meeting of the prison wardens provided an opportunity to reflect and exchange ideas. The challenges that are inherent in modern, care-oriented prisons could be addressed very openly. In spite of holding diverging stances at times, both sides praised the positive atmosphere in the discussions and emphasised the importance of a respectful dialogue. Good cooperation The expert dialogue will be continued next year. Discussion of the implementation of still open recommendations with the individually responsible management is intended – in addition to debate on structural problems. The NPM was able to rely on the experience it made on its monitoring visits at the two meetings of the members of the SEE Network, a cooperation of the NPMs in the South-East European countries. The meetings took place in June and October 2019 in Skopje under the chairmanship of the North Macedonian Ombudsman. “NPM Policies on Reprisals” and “Special needs of juveniles in places of detention” were on the agenda. Both meetings concluded with unanimously agreed recommendations that the members accepted as standards in their countries. In addition to pertinent publications, representatives of the NPM spoke at conferences including in Bonn and Madrid. International activities The offer to prepare prison guard entrants for their future contacts with the NPM as part of their basic training has certainly stood the test. The training lessons were consistently well received. In order to be able to deal with all of the questions in sufficient detail, the lecture time from the Correctional Services Academy (Strafvollzugsakademie) was extended to four units. The opportunity to also present the NPM and its responsibilities to legal secretaries and psychologists during their training was welcomed. Two invitations to network meetings of forensic follow-up care facilities increased the awareness level of the NPM for owners and operators of the same. The NPM was also given feedback on its visits at these meetings. Training and networking The focus of the commissions’ monitoring visits in 2019 was on: body searches with disrobement (2.5.2), health care (2.5.3) as well as women (2.5.4) and adolescents (2.5.5) in prison. Subsequent to findings and recommendations on these focal areas, there are reports on personnel (2.5.6), on living conditions (2.5.7), the infrastructural fixtures and fittings (2.5.8), contact to the outside Focus of monitoring work 106