108 15. Summary My task as NPM is to regularly examine the treatment of the persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention as defined in article 4 of the OPCAT, with a view to strengthening, if necessary, their protection against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.233 The ultimate objective of the NPM’s visits is to persuade the authorities and institutions concerned to improve the system of functioning safeguards to prevent all forms of ill-treatment. I have to perform the tasks of the NPM as of January 01, 2015. The special rules of performing this task are stipulated in the provisions of Section III/A of the Ombudsman Act, effective as of the same date. The legal environment is suitable for the performance of my tasks. In performing the tasks of the NPM, I may proceed personally or through authorized public servant members of my Office. In 2016, my Office had to face two major challenges while performing the tasks of the NPM. First, due to the lack of applicants, we could not fill the two public servant posts reserved for physicians, as stipulated in Section 39/D, Subsection (4) of the Ombudsman Act, in 2016 either. My Office employed the physicians participating in NPM visits on ad hoc basis, within the frameworks of civil law contracts. Second, the frequent changes in the ranks of public servants/lawyers in the Department made the performance of the NPM’s tasks more difficult. Of the six lawyers working at the Department on January 01, 2016, three left during the year. These job vacancies were filled via a public call for applications, in accordance with the Ombudsman Act’s provisions on gender composition.234 As a result of the circumstances above, the Department’s staff comprised seven public servants on the average. Visits were carried out by visiting delegations consisting of four to eight members. When setting up the visiting delegations, in addition to the gender balance, I tried to ensure the groups’ multidisciplinarity and include experts in the field of protecting the rights of national minorities. Although I have to perform the tasks of the NPM independently, I received valuable support from the members of the CCB, consisting of orga233 234 See Section 39/B, Subsection (1) of the Ombudsman Act. See” Guidelines on national preventive mechanism”, CAT/OP/12/5, Clause 16.