CAT/OP/ROU/1/Add.1 National Mental Health and Antidrug Centre together with professional associations of psychiatrists have started a process to enhance the community – based services and to develop community mental health centers. The multidisciplinary working group, coordinated by the Romanian Governmental Agent for European Court of Human Rights in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with joint representatives from the Ministry of Health, the National Mental Health and Antidrug Centre, the Ministry of Labor and Social Justice and the Ministry of Justice, focuses on amending the national legislation in order to grant the persons with mental disabilities the right to independent legal representation. According to the mental health law and the rules of implementation for Mental Health law, all mental health services need to have a complaint register in order to record and respond to possible complaints filed by patients and/or family members. Finally, we would like to highlight the fact that the Ministry of Health supported the amendments and harmonization of the national specialized legislation in order to promote the rights of people suffering from mental health disorders and to reinforce the influence of the competent bodies in monitoring, protecting against and preventing ill treatments for this vulnerable population. To this end, the Mental Health Law was revised in 2012 due to the fact that during its implementation multiple inconsistencies were signaled both with internal laws like the Family Code, the Penal Code, as well as with international treaties concerning fundamental rights and freedoms, like the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. I. People’s Advocate Response On 3 May and 12 May 2016, the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT), during its first regular visit to Romania, had a meeting with the People's Advocate and members of the Field on the prevention of torture in places of detention, which fulfils the duties of the National Prevention Mechanism against Torture in Places of Detention. Regarding the issues noted by the members of the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, we mention the following: By the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 48 of June 26, 2014 for amending and completing the Law No. 35/1997 regarding the organization and functioning of the People's Advocate Institution, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative legal acts, approved by Law No. 181/2014, the People's Advocate Institution has been designated as the only national structure to exercise the powers provided for in the Optional Protocol, adopted at New York on 18 December 2002, to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted at New York on December 10, 1984, ratified by Law No. 109/2009. 1. Regarding the steps taken to prevent and investigate any possible reprisals 43