CAT/OP/BOL/3/Add.1 141. Article 7 (1) (f) and (2) (e), article 8 (2) (a) (ii) and article 55 of the Rome Statute deal with the treatment and identification of torture as a criminal offence. II. Recommendation made in paragraph 50 142. The Plurinational Public Defender Service has submitted report SPDP/DNDP/JDAG No. 025/2017 (annex No. 2), in which it notes as follows. 143. Agreements have been concluded between the External Cooperation Agency and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation concerning a project for the comprehensive strengthening of the Plurinational Public Defender Service and between the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Kingdom of Denmark concerning a country project for the promotion of economic growth, sustainable management of natural resources and the rule of law. 144. The Plurinational Public Defender Service, through the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, as lead agency, is taking measures aimed at institutional strengthening from a technical, financial, administrative and legal perspective, including requesting an increased budget for the creation of new posts with a new salary scale, based on a prior organizational and budgetary analysis of the institution. It has requested the approval of salary increases and the creation of new posts and additional budgetary resources to cover the administrative costs associated with consultancies provided through international cooperation and to improve operating conditions in all offices across the country. 145. In a technical and legal report dated 12 April 2017 on the historical and current budgetary situation in respect of the provision of free legal defence services, with an emphasis on the infrastructure and budgetary requirements that have a direct impact on the qualitative and quantitative capacity to provide technical assistance to persons facing criminal charges, Administrative Decision No. 036/2017 of 13 April was issued, in which it is concluded that there is a need for institutional strengthening. The report provides the relevant background information, together with the new salary scale and the proposal for the creation of posts and additional budget required by the Plurinational Public Defender Service. 146. In note MEFP/VPCF/DGPGP/USS/No. 0261/17 of 5 July, however, the Minister of the Economy and Public Finances denied the request for additional resources. In order to proceed with arrangements for the adoption of the new salary scale and staffing table, the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency issued Note MJTI-DESP-JG No. 108/2017, in response to which the Public Defender Service submitted the required documentation to request the additional budget from the Ministry of the Economy and Public Finances. To that end, Ministerial Decision No. 178/2017 is planned for the adoption of the technical and legal reports (SEPDEP/DAF/JDAG SPDPALDP No. 028/17 and No. 062/2017, respectively) concerning the request for an increased annual budget, in order to submit the documents in question to the Ministry of the Economy and Public Finances. III. Recommendation made in paragraph 52 147. In the same report SPDP/DNDP/JDAG No. 025/2017, the Plurinational Public Defender Service notes the following. 148. Through Instruction SEPDEP/DNDP/DSC No. 116/2017 of 26 September, the National Directorate of the Plurinational Public Defender Service instructed the departmental directors, public defenders and assistant defenders to create institutional user registers in relation to incidents of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, to identify possible complaints in establishments for adolescents in conflict with the law and in any other institutions housing persons deprived of their liberty. 149. The Protocol for Public Defenders establishes mechanisms for responding to and registering signs of physical or psychological violence identified in users of the service. GE.18-12244 23