14 33. The large number of elections during the last twelve months were linked to the biennial renewal of one half of the CPT’s membership scheduled for the end of 2007. This process of partial renewal proceeded on the whole quite smoothly. That said, a number of national delegations in the Parliamentary Assembly only put forward their lists of candidates at a late stage. The next biennial renewal, due at the end of 2009, will concern 22 seats on the CPT. The election procedure will shortly be set in motion, by a letter from the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly to the relevant national delegations in the Assembly. Hopefully, this will make it possible for all of the national delegations concerned to put forward lists of candidates in good time. The CPT wishes once again to express its support of Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1540 (2007) on improving selection procedures for CPT members. The emphasis put by the Assembly on the need for transparent and rigorous national selection procedures (including public calls for candidatures, consultation on candidates with both State and nongovernmental bodies, and interviews with short-listed candidates) is particularly important. 34. The proportion of women among the CPT’s membership currently stands at 18 out of 45, which represents a notable improvement as compared to the situation last year (13 out of 45). As for the spread of professional experience within the CPT’s membership, the Committee requires more members with first-hand knowledge of the work of law enforcement agencies (police/gendarmerie); at present, there remains a predominance of expertise in the field of prisons. The CPT would also still benefit from the presence of more doctors with relevant forensic skills (in particular as regards the observing and recording of physical injuries) as well as from some reinforcement of the psychiatric component of its membership, in particular as regards child psychiatry. CPT: 18TH GENERAL REPORT Bureau of the CPT 35. During the CPT's March 2008 meeting, elections were held for the Bureau of the Committee. Mauro Palma, an Italian specialist on prison issues, was re-elected as the Committee’s President, and Renate Kicker, an Austrian Professor of public international law, was re-elected as its 1st VicePresident. Pétur Hauksson, an Icelandic psychiatrist, was elected as the Committee’s 2nd Vice-President. The Bureau's term of office is for two years. Administrative and budgetary questions 36. The present composition of the CPT’s Secretariat is set out in Appendix 6. The Committee welcomes the decision taken by the Ministers’ Deputies in October 2007, on a proposal from the Secretary General, to upgrade the post of Executive Secretary of the CPT to the level A6. After a period of flux, the situation within the CPT’s Secretariat has stabilised, which has made it possible to bring the annual visit programme back to the 170-day level. Nevertheless, Divisions 2 and 3 each still need to be provided with a B4 official (Administrative assistant). The CPT trusts that this modest reinforcement will be made at the earliest opportunity. 37. The CPT understands that it is proposed to allocate to the Committee budgetary appropriations for a 185-day visit programme in 2009. The CPT welcomes this and remains committed to the ultimate goal of an annual programme of 200 visit days. The Committee must reiterate once again that this is the volume of visit days required to cope effectively with the workload generated by 47 Parties to the Convention. Of course, consolidating and increasing further the number of visit days will depend to a large extent on the staff situation.