Special Report to the Storting Document 4:3 (2018–2019) 76 11 Supervision and complaints mechanisms Effective systems and procedures should be in place to prevent inmates being excluded from the company of other inmates and held in solitary confinement other than in exceptional cases and for the shortest possible time. For the rights of inmates to be safeguarded prior to, during and after being held in solitary confinement, it is essential to have good control systems in place. 11.1 Supervision Human rights standards on supervision The Nelson Mandela Rules and the European Prison Rules state that prisons shall be inspected on a regular basis. Both sets of rules recognise the need for both an internal system of regular inspections by the central prison ­administration and a system of supervision by one or more bodies that are independent of the prison administration. During any form of such internal or independent inspection of prisons and conditions of detainment, the inspectors shall have access to places of detention, individuals and information of relevance to the task they are set to do. 236 Because the use of solitary confinement and measures that entail locking up the inmate for long periods of the day entail a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, it is essential that the supervisory bodies have extensive access to information about all circumstances that can entail such lack of human contact.237 Such access is very important to be able to assess whether human rights requirements and standards are complied with. 11.1.1 The supervisory councils Pursuant to Section 9 of the Execution of Sentences Act, supervisory councils shall be appointed that are charged with supervising prisons and aftercare offices and the treatment of convicted persons and inmates. According to the guidelines to the Act, there shall be a supervisory council in each of the Correctional Service’s five regions. They are tasked with supervising the prisons and ensuring that inmates are treated in accordance with applicable legislation. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security shall appoint the head and deputy head of the supervisory council and at least two of its members and their deputies. These are appointed for a term of two years. 238 For more than 20 years, there have been discussions as to whether the supervisory regime provides inmates with adequate legal safeguards.239 In 1988, the Prison Law Commission pointed out weaknesses in the composition of the supervisory councils, that they did not undertake many visits and that they lacked legal authority. 236 The Nelson Mandela Rules, Rules 83, 84 and 85. The European Prison Rules, Rules 9, 92 and 93. 237 Essex paper 3: Initial guidance on the interpretation and implementation of the Nelson Mandela Rules, p. 92. 238 Regulations to the Execution of Sentences Act Section 3-7. The Directorate of the Norwegian Correctional Service’s guidelines (Directorate of Correctional Service 2002). Guidelines to the Execution of Sentences Act and its Regulations, section 9.1, revised version of 27 October 2008. 239 Eskeland, S (1989). Fangerett: en studie av rettssikkerhet ved fullbyrdelse av fengselsstraff (’A study of legal safeguards in connection with the execution of prison sentences’) p. 458. Oslo: TANO. 77 ‹ 11