of the ZDZdr, as this Article applies ONLY to admittance to departments of a psychiatric hospital under special supervision, and cannot be used for social care institutions EITHER DIRECTLY OR REASONABLY. • I t was our recommendation that when a resident (who has not been deprived of legal capacity) is unable to provide their consent to be admitted to the secure department, Fužine Retirement Home should notify the court prior to detaining the resident in the secure department, as in such cases detention is permissible only on the basis of a court decision. It was recommended that the retirement home inform us of the matter, should the court not decide on the proposal or issue a decision that the procedure not be started. In its response to the preliminary report, the retirement home stated that in its thirteen years of operation they had had only two applicants or residents who had been deprived of their legal capacity prior to arrival. It is the retirement home’s opinion that admittance to a secure residential unit mostly comes as a relief to family members who are burnt out from caring for a person with dementia. Because of these facts, it is their opinion that it would be wrong to keep people with dementia in their home environment only for the purpose of the implementation of proceedings stipulated by the ZDZdr. It is the retirement home’s opinion that if they considered the recommendation made by the NPM, this would mean that the court would have to visit the person with dementia in their home environment, and the person would have to be charged the reservation of an empty room until admittance. We also explained to our dialogue partners in the retirement home that we were aware of the unrealistic solution under the ZDZdr, which does not regulate for the urgent procedure of admittance to a secure department of a social care institution. b) Cancellation of consent for admittance to a secure department During our visits to retirement homes, we have repeatedly emphasised the need for retirement homes to prepare appropriate forms for residents who are still able to express their will to be admitted to a secure department and to always add legal instructions to the form, i.e. the possibility of cancelling such consent either verbally or in writing or with conclusive actions, e.g. knocking on the door, trying to open the door, or similar as stipulated by the ZDZdr. In addition to the recommendations provided below, the NPM also made such recommendations when visiting the Sv. Martin Retirement Home in Srednja vas v Bohinju, Fužine Retirement Home, and Dr Janko Benedik Retirement Home in Radovljica. • In the light of the design of the secure department of Gornja Radgona Retirement Home (dementia unit – DU) making it impossible for residents to leave the department independently, we believe that, in accordance with the ZDZdr, the consent of people living in this department should be obtained. This consent should include a legal instruction on how to cancel such consent. For people who are unable to provide such consent, or who disagree with admittance to this department, appropriate court proceedings should be started to assess the need for staying in such a department, which, in accordance with the ZDZdr, the NPM believes can be defined as a secure department of a social care institution. In its response to the preliminary report, the retirement home stated that the employees try to give meaning to life for its residents in the home within the limits of realistic possibilities and sometimes even “beyond”. It was for this reason that they immediately reacted to the findings and recommendations made by the NPM and found appropriate solutions for the majority of them. Unfortunately, they are unable to completely agree with the NPM’s opinion that the retirement home and its unit for people with dementia (DU) meet all the conditions for it to be renamed as a secure department. Residents’ movements in this unit are not restricted in the sense that they are unable to leave the room. The doors are also not locked although it is true that they open with more difficulty due to the closing mechanism. This deficiency has been eliminated. Residents who leave the unit are not directed back into the unit, the garden or the fenced-in yard. The retirement home stated that they wished to avoid unpleasant events which could consequently be caused by being defined a secure department of a social care institution (for example, Lukavci Retirement Home). The DU will only admit residents who are still able to express their will and decide on their accommodation, and in their work they will follow the model of personal monitoring – a concept which does not restrict the freedom of movement of people with dementia. 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 49