-7III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROCEDURAL AND ORGANISATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROPER CONDUCT OF VISITS a) The Rules of Procedure 11. One of the very first tasks of the CPT was, of course, to draw up its Rules of Procedure, pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Rules were adopted in November 1989 and have subsequently been amended on several occasions, either for the purpose of dealing with unforeseen issues which arose or to ensure that the Rules fully reflected the practices that the CPT had developed in specific areas (the Rules of Procedure can be obtained from the Committee's Secretariat). 12. The following features of the Rules of Procedure should be highlighted: i) the CPT's work is directed collegially, the emphasis being placed on the Bureau rather than the President (see Rule 10 (paragraph 2) and paragraphs 14 to 17 below); ii) a sort of "alarm system" has been established for use in urgent situations, when reports received by the Committee make it advisable for it to request that the relevant national authorities immediately provide information or explanations concerning the circumstances in question, prior to a possible visit by the CPT (see Rule 30 and paragraphs 23 to 25); iii) a procedure has been established for the notification of periodic visits, designed to serve various needs simultaneously (see paragraphs 26 to 30). In particular, this procedure, provided for in Rules 31 (paragraph 4) and 35: a) enables non-governmental organisations and individuals to submit to the CPT in good time information concerning the countries concerned; b) enables the States to be visited to organise meetings of the visiting delegation with the national authorities; c) at the same time, maintains a certain element of surprise as regards the actual carrying out of the visit. iv) in order to ensure that the CPT is, and is seen to be, absolutely impartial, the so-called "national" member cannot be chosen as a member of the delegation entrusted with carrying out a visit to his or her country (see Rule 37 (paragraph 2) and paragraph 20); v) provisions have been included in the Rules designed to deter breaches of the rule of confidentiality (see, in particular, Rules 47 and 48, as well as paragraph 82, points iii and iv)).