Annual Report 2012: Spain’s National Preventive Mechanism The «Teresa de Calcuta» center does not have a specific record book for personal searches Due processing of disciplinary proceedings Delays in responding to reprehensible behavior are detrimental for the pedagogical value of the sanction imposed 122 153. In respect to personal searches, at the «Teresa de Calcuta» center inspectors were informed that whenever a minor returns from an outing or on admission to the center, a superficial search is performed. It is not considered a full-body strip search because the minor remains covered with a towel. Different testimony giv­ en by minors in custody indicated that on occasions they are left totally nude with exploration of body cavities (mouth and rectal area) being conducted by the technical intervention assistants without the presence of medical personnel. This was confirmed by staff members, who acknowledged that sometimes body cavi­ ties were examined because on at least one occasion they discovered that an ado­ lescent was trying to introduce a non-authorized substance in that manner, which was reported to the Judge. Even though personal searches are common, the center does not have a specific log in which to note when these searches are performed, the cause, person in charge, director’s authorization and intervention of medical personnel, if fitting, notification to the Judge if appropriate, as well as notification of incidents, as indicated in paragraphs 407 of the 2010 Annual Re­ port and 183 and 184 of the 2011 Annual Report, and article 54.6 of the Regula­ tions of Juvenile Criminal Liability Organic Law 5/2000, of 12th January. It was noted that on occasions the personal search is performed by a technical interven­ tion assistant without any other staff member present. The intervention is not recorded and there is no external monitoring to prevent potential abuses of au­ thority or situations of conflict. In consequence, it is essential to ensure that per­ sonal and property searches are always performed in the presence of an educator or of the coordinator, as provided in the aforementioned paragraphs. 154. On examining the disciplinary proceedings at the three centers it was not­ ed that they are properly processed and that only three to four days go by from the time the procedure is initiated until it is resolved. In general terms, the policy regarding application of the disciplinary regime at «Teresa de Calcuta» offers full guarantees. An example of said policy is that minors are informed of their right to appeal punishments imposed on them to the Judge. Analysis of the documen­ tation revealed that about 15% of minor sanctions, 23% of serious sanctions and 40% of very serious sanctions are appealed, with the Judge partially allowing 9% of the serious sanctions and 36% of the very serious sanctions. In contrast to what happens in other centers, where filing an appeal does not stop fulfillment of the sanction, at «Teresa de Calcuta» application of the punishment is suspended until the resolution is received, which takes from one to three weeks. This period of time is detrimental for the pedagogical value of the measures, given that sanctions are effective in accordance with the immediacy between the act and its consequence, which helps the minor associate both and not simply consider the sanction as punishment. Given that legal criteria with due guarantees must prevail over educational criteria, it is advisable in this sense that the judicial proceedings be speeded up to allow for a faster response and thus maximize the educational value of the sanctions. In this sense, in reviewing the disciplinary proceedings at the «Zambrana» center, it was noted that in some cases more than 30 or 40 days THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN