MONITORING OF CUSTODIAL SETTINGS IN UKRAINE 10 nal Affairs’ Order # 536 (of July 8, 2008) “On permanent mobile groups for monitoring of the respect of human and civic rights in the operation of authorities of Internal Affairs and on approval of the Provisions on such groups” and Order # 894 (of August 31, 2006) “On the arrangements for operation of permanent mobile groups for monitoring of the respect of human and civic rights and freedoms in the operation of authorities of Internal Affairs”. The mobile groups possessed certain functional independence from the management of territorial police bodies and units, as each group included at least two representatives of human rights advocacy groups and all matters of mobile groups’ activity were resolved at meetings of public councils with regional police authorities. After each visit of custodial settings the mobile group made a report according to a standard form and communicated its copies to the regional police department, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Kharkiv Institute of Social Researches and, as of 2008, also to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department for monitoring of human rights respect in the operation of Internal Affairs authorities, which was coordinating the work of mobile groups and public councils. According to the Provisions on the mobile groups (approved by MIA Order # 894, of August 31, 2006) the mobile group members had the following rights: – “to enter, at any time of day or night, without prior notification and in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and to inspect the territory and premises of the Internal Affairs bodies and units, as well as to have immediate access to holding areas for persons detained, apprehended, taken into custody, administratively detained or serving the administrative punishment of arrest; – in accordance with the requirements of the effective legislation of Ukraine, to have confidential interviews with the detained, apprehended and administratively arrested persons, in order to reveal violations of the rules with regard to treatment, procedural terms, grounds for detention, apprehension and custody, providing of information about the rights of persons detained, apprehended or taken into custody and on other rights stipulated by the legislation of Ukraine; – to familiarize with the materials in the Register of statements and notifications about committed or contemplated crimes, Register of information on crimes and other developments that has come in by telephone or other means of communication, Register of materials serving as grounds for refusal to initiate criminal proceedings, Register of information containing no clear obvious signs of crime, Register of materials on administrative offenses and the Register of persons brought to the city, district or line police body; – in accordance with the established procedure, to request and receive from Internal Affairs authorities the information and other materials and documents on