12. 13. 14. 15. 4 and 5 April As the Head of the NPM, the Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, attended an 2017 international conference on cooperation activities between the Council of Europe and National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM), the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was held in the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg (2017 Cooperation activities between the Council of Europe and NPMs, SPT, CPT). The participants discussed work methods and forms and exchanged experience. 4 April 2017 The Ombudsman, and Robert Gačnik and mag. Jure Markič, members of the NPM, visited the Ministry of Justice to participate in the final meeting of the periodic visit of the CPT delegation – the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 12 April 2017 The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, and the Ombudsman’s adviser, Robert Gačnik, visited Gotenica and presented the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia and the role of the National Preventive Mechanism to newly accepted judicial police officers. 23–25 April The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, and the Ombudsman’s adviser, mag. Jure 2017 Markič, travelled to Vienna to visit the Austrian Ombudsman, where they learned of how (post)forensic treatment is regulated in Austria. 16. 10 May 2017 The Deputy Ombudsman, Ivan Šelih, and the Ombudsman’s advisers, Robert Gačnik and mag. Uroš Kovačič, welcomed the Head of the Aliens Centre mag. Jože Konec, who presented the planned refurbishment of the male section of the Aliens Centre. The Ombudsman supports the planned refurbishment. 17. 12 May 2017 A discussion was held at the Ombudsman’s office with representatives of the Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Associations, Nika Antolašić and Vida Bogataj, on the future cooperation of this non-governmental organisation in the work of the National Preventive Mechanism. 18. 15 May 2017 A representative of the NPM, mag. Jure Markič, participated in the meeting of the Ombudsman, Vlasta Nussdorfer, with the Director of Inspection for Social Affairs, Peter Stefanoski. They discussed several subjects, including how the Ombudsman, in the role of the National Preventive Mechanism, implements the monitoring of retirement homes in the part with restricted freedom of movement, especially people with dementia. During its visits, the Ombudsman established that individual retirement homes, even though they do not have secure departments, use special precautionary measures (SPM), even though the Mental Health Act only allows these to be used in secure departments. The Inspection of Social Affairs has also established inconsistencies in the use of SPM. The participants of the meeting agreed that population ageing and a larger number of people suffering from dementia will require special care from the state in the future. They also spoke about the dissatisfaction of initiators with the level of care in retirement homes, also from the viewpoint of the (in) adequacy of staffing standards. 19. 31 May and 1 The Ombudsman’s adviser, Ana Polutnik, attended the bilateral Slovenia– June 2017 Norway Conference on the Development of Community Services for Managing Dementia 2014–2020. The conference presented the main findings in managing dementia. The Living with Dementia project, which was financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, provided an opportunity for establishing the Memory Centre in Celje, which has a multidisciplinary team offering counselling, training, workshops, self-help groups, social gatherings, and various services to people with dementia and their relatives in the form of assistance, including through volunteers. 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 27