that it manages the required records on the measures and notifes all people who must be notified of their use under the law. • We recommend that SPM are always implemented separately from other residents, i.e. in a separate room, and always supervised by staff as stipulated by the ZDZdr. If it is not possible to implement the measure in a separate room, we recommend that it is implemented when this is not observed by other residents or visitors, and in a manner preventing harassment or even violence against the resident. • We recommend that the institution pay attention to implementing such a measure only as a last resort when all other options for calming down the resident have been exhausted, or in the event of a risk of falling or to prevent falls or injuries if a fall has already happened. We recommend that the staff carefully record all previously tried options and define why these were been successful. • We recommend that during the implementation of SPM, the institution consider all the requirements of the ZDZdr, especially ensuring continuous monitoring of the resident who is subject to the SPM of physical restraint. In its response, Impoljca Retirement Home did not provide an explicit answer to these two recommendations. Their observance will be checked during our next visit. 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 In the context of a thematic visit, the NPM visited all five special social care institutions in Slovenia in 2017, i.e. Lukavci Retirement Home, Hrastovec SCI, Dom Nine Pokorn Grmovje (30 January 2017), Prizma Ponikve SCI (31 January 2017) and Dutovlje SCI (now called Dom na Krasu, 1 February 2017) and checked the situation of people with mental health disorders who have been involuntarily placed in a secure department of a social care institution under the ZDZdr. The main finding of the thematic visit was that the situation with regard to the placement and consequent treatment in secure departments of SCI, especially in secure departments of special SCI, is unbearable. Secure departments of SCI are overcrowded, and it happens increasingly often that they exceed their (space and staffing) capacities. At the same time, the courts report that the number of proposals for admittance and relocation to secure departments of SCI on the basis of a court decision is on the rise. The unbearable situation is mostly felt by the residents of secure departments, but also by the staff of SCIs, while the judges deciding on admittance to overcrowded departments are often faced with distress about the matter. On the basis of the NPM’s visits, the Ombudsman prepared a special report in which it, on the basis of the findings, recommended to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia to: • discuss the Ombudsman’s Special Report at a National Assembly session and • adopt recommendations for the work of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to adopt the required measures ensuring a more appropriate regulation of involuntary admittance and treatment of people with mental health disorders in SCI under the ZDZdr, including amendments and annexations to the legal framework (the ZSV and the ZDZdr), and in terms of a short-term solution to ensure appropriate facilities in SCI and sufficient staff who are able to provide appropriate social care services (fourth paragraph of Article 272 in conjunction with Article 111 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 92/07 – official consolidated text, 105/10 and 80/13 – PoDZ-1). On the basis of the Special Report, the National Assembly prepared the following recommendation for the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 60/2017): The National Assembly recommends to the Government to prepare amendments to the Social Assistance Act and the Mental Health Act as soon as possible, and to adopt measures which will ensure more appropriate involuntary placement and treatment of people with mental health 60 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