7 SECTION 1 IMPLEMENATION OF THE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM IN UKRAINE: SPECIFIC FEATURES 1.1. UKRAINE’S OBLIGATIONS WITH REGARD TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT On July 21, 2006 the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine ratified OPCAT - the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Law of Ukraine # 22-V, of July 21, 2006). According to OPCAT provisions each State Party is obliged to set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (the national preventive mechanisms, or NPMs). The Optional Protocol contains no provisions regarding the format and organizational structure of NPMs but obligates the State Parties to guarantee the functional independence of the national preventive mechanisms as well as the independence of their personnel, to make available the necessary resources for NPM functioning and, when establishing national preventive mechanisms, to give due consideration to the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. According to part one of Article 4 of OPCAT each State Party shall allow NPMs to visit any place under its jurisdiction and control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence. These visits shall be undertaken with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of these persons against torture and other cruel,