Chapter 2. The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a national preventive mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: her mandate, legal and institutional problems. As already mentioned, the designation of the Commissioner as an NPM, along with expanding the scope of her mandate, has entrusted her with new duties. Hence, taking into account that the Commissioner is a constitutional institution, it is necessary to amend the Constitutional Law in connection with the performance of the NPM functions. One of the main tasks to undertake in order to ensure that the Commissioner carries out the activities of an institution performing the functions of the NPM at full capacity is to set up her rights and duties – competencies in accordance with the OPCAT. Thus, according to Articles 3 and 17 of the OPCAT, the main objective of which is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places of detention in order to prevent torture (Article 1), each State Party shall set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several independent visiting bodies for the prevention of torture (referred to as the NPM). These bodies may be designated as an NPM if they are in conformity with the requirements of the OPCAT. In other words, the mandate of the Commissioner should embrace a range of minimum competencies provided for NPMs by the OPCAT. The mandate of the Commissioner who has been designated as an NPM is governed by the Constitutional Law. In accordance with Article 1.1 of the Constitutional Law, the post of the Commissioner has been set up to restore the human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and in the international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party and violated by governmental and municipal bodies and officials of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The activity of the Commissioner as an independent institution shall be based on the principles of publicity, transparency, legality, justice, and impartiality (the Constitutional Law, Article 1.7). 15