14 1. The legal background of the National Preventive Mechanism’s operation Pursuant to Article 4, Paragraph (2) of the Protocol, ”deprivation of liberty means any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority.” Within the Committee, the OPCAT established the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture). The main tasks of the Subcommittee on Prevention include visiting places where persons are deprived of their liberty, as well as offering advice and assistance to State Parties in establishing and operating independent national bodies that would regularly visit places of detention.16 From the aspect of the National Preventive Mechanisms’ activities, in addition to the Subcommittee’s general guidelines,17 individual guidelines and directives contained in the reports on the visits conducted on the territory of the State Parties18 are also applicable. 1.2.2. Instruments of the Council of Europe According to Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted in Rome on November 04, 1950, promulgated by Act XXXI of 1993 (hereinafter the European Convention on Human Rights), “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Unlike the relevant UN instruments, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights does not contain the term “cruel.” The observation of the obligations undertaken in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Protocols thereto, including compliance with the prohibition of torture, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment, is basically monitored by the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter the “ECHR”). Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR may receive applications from any person, non-governmental organization or group of individuals claiming to be the victim of a violation of the rights set forth in the Convention within six months after all domestic remedies have been exhausted.19 In addition, any High Contracting Party may refer to the Court any alleged breach of the provisions of the Convention and 16 17 18 19 See Article 11 of the OPCAT. Guidelines on national preventive mechanisms: CAT/OP/12/5; Analytical assessment tool for national preventive mechanisms: CAT/OP/1/Rev.1; Compilation of SPT Advices to NPMs. The documents may be accessed at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/Brief.aspx See: UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Maldives, 26 February 2009, CAT/OP/MDV/1, Clause 72 c). See: Articles 34–35 of the European Convention on Human Rights.