MONITORING OF CUSTODIAL SETTINGS IN UKRAINE 14 In fact, this draft Law aimed at creating a Ukrainian NPM in the “Special public authority +” format, since the NCPT staff would perform NPM functions together with the involved representatives of civic organizations. Unfortunately, in late 2008 – early 2009 the global financial crisis and its effects in Ukraine suspended all follow-up action with the draft law, and the National Committee for Prevention of Torture was not set up. Ukraine returned to the matter of NPM setup only eighteen months later, when in August 2010 the Ministry of Justice developed another legislative draft that assigned NPM functions to the Ombudsman of Ukraine by a number of amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights”. However, this draft sparked just criticisms from NGOs. Firstly, it failed to specify any mechanism of public involvement into monitoring visits; secondly, it contained a clause that implementation of this law did not require additional budgetary funding. Thus, even a successful implementation of the proposed model would hardly imply its efficient functioning. Moreover, the idea of assigning NPM functions to the Ombudsman was not carried out. As a result this draft was not even submitted to the Parliament for consideration. One year later, in September 2011, the Government Agent of Ukraine on the issues of the European Court on Human Rights Valeriya Lutkovska initiated establishment, under the President of Ukraine, of the Commission for Prevention of Torture. The composition of the Commission was approved by Presidential Edict № 1046/2011 of November 18, 2011. It included Andriy Portnov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration and Advisor to the President of Ukraine, as the Chairman of the Commission, Valeriya Lutkovska, the Government Agent of Ukraine on the issues of the European Court on Human Rights, and 33 representatives of civic organizations, parliament members, lawyers and civic activists involved in the sphere of torture and ill-treatment prevention. According to the Regulation on the Commission approved by the same Edict the Commission for Prevention of Torture is a permanent consultative and advisory body under the President of Ukraine, established to promote Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations under OPCAT. The principal tasks of the Commission were: – to reveal facts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to submit, in accordance with the established procedure, proposals to the President of Ukraine with regard to their termination and further prevention;