CAT/OP/CHE/CSPRO/1 III. National preventive mechanism A. Structure and independence 10. Paragraph 24: The Subcommittee recommends that the State party sever the links between the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture and the Federal Department of Justice and Police so that the Commission can function with complete independence, both institutional and operational, and carry out all its activities and tasks separately from those of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, by having its own structure. 11. Federal Act No. 150.1 on the Commission for the Prevention of Torture provides that the Commission will carry out its tasks independently, will appoint its own members and will establish rules on its organization and working methods. The Act also states that the Commission must have at its disposal the necessary financial resources to carry out its work, for which it may have a permanent secretariat. The Federal Act thus gives effect to two essential aspects of the Optional Protocol. 12. The Act leaves open the question of the Commission’s institutional structure. Given that national implementation of human rights obligations is largely the responsibility of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, it seemed sensible that the Commission should be administratively attached to the Department. 13. In recent years, the issue of independence has been raised with the Commission on several occasions. The administrative attachment to the Federal Department of Justice and Police is financially advantageous for the Commission, since it is able to avail itself of existing administrative and human resources at no cost. If the Commission were to sever links with the federal administration, it would have to bear these administrative and personnel costs itself. 14. In its last activity report,3 the Commission stated that, in the absence of a national human rights institution, it could not envisage any other institutional attachment that would make it independent of the federal administration. 15. Furthermore, the authors of the legal opinion of 31 July 2017 on “legal aspects of the independence of the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture”, mentioned in paragraph 19 of the Subcommittee’s report, state that the Commission’s administrative attachment to the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Justice and Police has not led to any problems of misapplication of the law. Nor has the General Secretariat received any indication from the Commission that its financial independence is compromised by its administrative attachment to the Department. Consequently, the Federal Council sees no need to alter the current arrangements. B. Budget and financial resources 16. Paragraphs 27 and 32: The Subcommittee therefore recommends that the State party provide the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture with a budget separate from that of the Federal Department of Justice and Police so that it can be financially autonomous and, as a result, operationally independent. 17. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party provide the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture with a budget sufficient to guarantee its operational independence and the proper exercise of its functions, in accordance with articles 17 to 20 of the Optional Protocol. In this regard, it encourages the State party to review the budget allocated to the national preventive mechanism, giving due consideration to the needs expressed by the members of the mechanism itself, so that it can: carry out, in a satisfactory manner, its annual programme of visits throughout the country; enlist, as needed, the services 3 4 National Commission for the Prevention of Torture, 2019 activity report: https://www.nkvf.admin.ch/dam/nkvf/fr/data/Berichte/taetigkeitsberichte/taetigkeitsbericht2019.pdf.download.pdf/taetigkeitsbericht-2019-f.pdf. GE.21-03864