51. 22 November The Human Rights Ombudsman, Vlasta Nussdorfer, and her colleagues met with 2017 the Minister of , Milojka Kolar Celarc, and her associates. NPM member mag. Jure Markič also attended the discussions. The meeting focused on the setting up and operations of a paediatric psychiatry unit, the problems of financing health care services in social care institutions, the implementation of health services in special social care institutions, the position of the forensic unit, and the findings of the National Preventive Mechanism. The Ombudsman emphasised the urgency of setting up a paediatric psychiatry unit, as for several years the Ombudsman has been pointing out the inappropriate hospitalisation of children with mental health problems who are placed in hospitals together with adults. The Minister assured the Ombudsman that all the conditions (including financial) for the commencement of the work of such a unit as part of the Ljubljana Psychiatric Clinic have been met. 52. 28 November The Ombudsman’s adviser, mag. Jure Markič, attended a conference organised by 2017 the Working Group of Social Workers with the Association of Social Institutions and the Social Section of the Gerontological Association of Slovenia, entitled The Right of the Elderly to Legal Representation?. 53. 30 November The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, and the Ombudsman’s adviser, mag. 2017 Jure Markič, visited the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities to attend the 4th meeting of the Working Group for setting up a specialised unit for people with the most severe cases of mental illness which cause them to endanger their own lives or the lives of others. 54. 55. 56. 6 December The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, gave a lecture on the National Preventive 2017 Mechanism at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. 11–13 The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, and the Ombudsman’s adviser, Robert Gačnik, December travelled to Belgrade to attend a meeting of the SEE NPM Network. Together with 2017 representatives of SPT, CPT, APT, and NPM Obs, they dealt with the methodology of the work of the present NPM, who are network members, while representatives of the UK NPM and the Armenian NPM were present as observers. Ivan Šelih emphasised that after almost ten years of implementing the duties and powers of the NPM in Slovenia, we have established that the time has come to introduce certain changes. Ten years ago, we began implementing the duties and powers of the NPM predominantly on the basis of experience gained in the context of the activities of the Ombudsman. The different nature of work of the NPM, which is preventive and does not deal with individual complaints, meant that we had to adapt the organisation of our work. One of these adaptations is also the independent NPM unit which sees to the implementation of regular visits to places of deprivation of liberty in Slovenia. Unlike general visits, which focus on getting to know the institutions, thematic visits have become important, i.e. visits where special attention is paid to a specific subject or topic. In 2017, the Ombudsman prepared a Special Report on the violation of human rights of people with mental disorders with regard to involuntary placement and involuntary treatment in secure departments of social care institutions, and is currently preparing a report on the conditions for vulnerable people in custody. At the end of the meeting, with agreements reached on their future work, the network members also appointed a new chairperson, i.e. the Montenegro NPM, while next year the Legal Group will be chaired by the Austrian NPM and the Health Group by the Serbian NPM. 12 December The Ombudsman’s advisers, mag. Jure Markič and Ana Polutnik, attended a 2017 training course on dementia friendly points organised by the Spominčica – Alzheimer Slovenia association. At the training, mag. Jure Markič presented the experience with the first such point in Slovenia, which is operating at the Ombudsman’s office. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2017 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT 35