Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2017 Taking into account the fact that the prison transport system still relies on old special purpose vehicles, with side benches, insufficient lights, poor ventilation and without seatbelts, if prisoners with poor health find out that they will be transported to a medical check in external medical institutions in these vehicles, they sometimes refuse to undergo such a drive altogether. Prisoners with back problems who have to lie on old mattresses of poor quality are not allowed to get new mattresses on their own (since penal institutions cannot provide them with one) and as a result, they are often forced to take painkillers. They also complain that the time of therapy distribution does not match their needs. For instance, in some penal institutions, they have to take sleeping pills hours before they go to bed. Furthermore, some of the complaints addressed the accommodation conditions. For example, non-smokers objected they occasionally had to share the room with smokers and this was especially bothering those administered to the Zagreb Prison Hospital. Prisoners also indicated that the Rijeka Prison had problems with the heating because radiators were not getting hot enough after 4 pm. A prisoner who, due to the spine problems, had been experiencing pain and difficulty moving, objected to the fact that he had been accommodated to the upper floor of the Zagreb Prisons not equipped with an elevator. As a consequence, he did not spend much time outdoors. Very often, prisoners pointed to the limited opportunities to talk to the treatment officials. In addition, they were dissatisfied with transparency of the assessment process and the procedure of granting benefits, noting that they relied on discretionary decisions. Prisoners still complain about the time it takes to handle complaints filed against decisions made by the head of prison. In several cases, it was after the period of placement to special supervision department that the executing judge decided on a complaint against the placement decision, which is a practice that cannot be tolerated. Taking into consideration judicial independence, we have warned the Supreme Court against such practice, which was in breach of the Article 18 of the Croatian Constitution 8