CHAPTER 2. PREVENTIVE VISITS 2.1. Organization of preventive visits As it is known, to conduct regular preventive visits to places where people are deprived of their liberty is the key direction of the NPM’s activity. According to the OPCAT’s requirements, visits are conducted in the establishments, the list of which is drawn up and constantly renewed based on the information submitted by the relevant bodies about the places of detention in their jurisdiction in response to the questionnaires sent to them. As in previous years, in 2012 as well, corresponding agencies provided necessary conditions required by the legislation to enable the NPG to undertake visits. All preventive visits undertaken by the NPG are conducted without making prior notification and are divided into two groups: - Scheduled visits; - Ad-hoc visits. Scheduled visits: Scheduled visits are undertaken according to a confidential monthly schedule approved by the Commissioner. The decision about including a certain establishment in the visit schedule and determining the sequence of visits are taken based on the specifications of the given establishment, as well as prior cases reported on the detention conditions and treatment in the mentioned establishment and its location. Depending on the establishment’s size and the number of persons kept there, a scheduled visit may last up-to 3 days. Ad-hoc visits. These visits are undertaken for checking the state of the implementation of the recommendations given during previous visits, preventing prosecution against the persons who have communicated some information to the NPM Group in this or another form, investigating information given by interviewed detainees about the establishments they were previously held at, as well as meeting the need for increasing attention to certain establishments, which has derived from the examination of the applications and complaints sent to the Commissioner, also on the Commissioner’s own initiative. In order to ensure that the visits of the NPM are conducted successfully, each visit is completed through the following three stages: - preparation for the visit; - undertaking the visit; - analyzing the visit results. 13