present, audio-visual recording is only mandatory by law in a few countries across the OSCE, and even in these cases it is limited either to some jurisdictions, where it is used for all suspect interviews, or to specific cases, or to the questioning of vulnerable defendants, suspects or accused persons. Audio-visual recording not only constitutes a strong deterrent against torture or other ill-treatment during interviews, but can also protect the police against false allegations of torture and serve as evidence in proceedings.64 In the European Union, for example, the 2016 Directive on Procedural Safeguards for Children Who Are Suspects or Accused Persons in Criminal Proceedings requires Member States to audio-visually record police interviews of child suspects “where this is proportionate to the circumstances of the case.”65 While this is a welcome recognition of audio-visual recording as a human rights safeguard, there is no reason why it should be limited to children. In one Western European participating State, where there were numerous allegations of torture and mistreatment against detainees during the 1970s and 1980s, the requirement for audio-visual recording of questioning was introduced in 1999, and allegations of torture and mistreatment declined significantly. In 2018, the CPT commended the “enormous culture change that has taken place within the police of Northern Ireland since the late 1990s.”66 30. At the time of writing this publication, one OSCE participating State in Central Asia was developing a new system for keeping police records. The new system records information about the detainee, the arrest, the arresting officers and the subsequent stages of detention, including the questioning and interviewing of suspects or accused individuals. This was intended to allow access to this information to the various criminal justice actors and enhance transparency considerably. Such comprehensive and detailed records management and clear obligations for all professionals involved to log the required information may de-incentivize torture or other ill-treatment of persons deprived of liberty in the criminal justice system in the future.67 64 65 66 67 24 118–123. Penal Reform International and APT, “Video recording in police custody Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment”, Detention Monitoring Tool, Second edition Factsheet, p. 1. Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, Article 9(1). Report to the Government of the United Kingdom on the visit to Northern Ireland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 29 August to 6 September 2017, CPT/Inf (2018) 47, p. 4. Se e a shor t vide o in Russian he re about the syste m in Kyrgy zstan: https://youtu.be/ZnXUlzB4Mnw.