6 INTRODUCTION by the Deputy Ombudsman − responsible for executing the competence of the National Preventive Mechanism G reece’s ratification of the 2002 Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984 (Law 4228/2014) not only transposed it into Greek domestic law – and, indeed, with increased formal power over national law (Article 28(1) of the Constitution of Greece) – but led to the establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) as a “two-pronged” external monitoring agency of detention conditions. It is a national institution as regards its founding and operational competence, but its action is based on continuous collaboration and dialogue with the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and its counterpart national authorities and services competent for organising, operating and monitoring places of detention. In this way, the “externality” of the inspections carried out by the NPM is assured not only in relation to the executive power but also – in some way – to Greece itself. From this point of view, in contrast to the targeted and irregular inspections carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the Council of Europe the NPM is a permanent and constant monitoring agency, which, although established at the national level, is firmly supported at the international level1. The Greek Ombudsman, upon assuming its special competence as NPM in 2014, stressed that it would carry out its mission in a fair and constructive manner, operating on the conviction that “the legality of the restraint must be understood through a just, liberal and humane prism” (Annual Report 2015, p.137). This report reflects the NPM’s operation in 2016, both with regard to its visits to and on-site inspections of places of detention, as well as its national and international presence, and includes interventions and recommendations regarding current policies, as well as its networking and collaborations with corresponding authorities. 1 See the provision of Article 11(1b) of the Protocol, that provides that in regard to the NPMs, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention shall “(i) Advise and assist States Parties, when necessary, in their establishment, … (iv) Make recommendations and observations to the States parties with a view to strengthening the capacity and the mandate of the national preventive mechanisms for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.