Report on the Performance of the Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2019 substances or alcohol into a prison, or to produce such substances in prison, which in this specific instance was not the case. Thus, a disciplinary penalty whose size has not been stipulated was issued for a transgression which has not been specified. Although we highlighted the need to change Art. 140 in previous reports, this has not been done in the 2019 CPA amendments. 1.1.2. ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION IN THE PRISON SYSTEM Certain improvements to the accommodation conditions, such as 50 new places in the Požega County Prison, are certainly positive, but in many penal institutions persons deprived of their liberty live in conditions that are not up to legal and international standards, and in some cases are degrading and harmful to health. It is therefore necessary to continue to take measures to ensure that the inmates' living conditions are adequate. We have continuously highlighted the lack of organised leisure activities in prisons. A significant limiting factor lies in the lack of space and staff, so such activities, even when they are available, are primarily intended for those serving sentences of imprisonment. As activities available to detainees are very limited, such inmates frequently spend 22 hours a day in the dormitories, mostly lying down or watching TV. Although the EPSA and international documents stipulate that persons serving prison sentences should be held separate from those in detention, exceptions can occasionally be made. For instance, Art. 18.9 and 101 of the European Prison Rules allow remand prisoners to participate in organised activities together with prisoners serving sentences, but the general rule is that these two categories are kept apart at night. Therefore, in situations when separate activities cannot be organised for them, it should be possible for them to take part in such activities along with sentenced inmates. Spending time with a married or unmarried partner in special rooms free of supervision, so called conjugal visits, should be a right, not a benefit. Prisoners and their spouses, especially those of younger age, have pointed out that failure to grant such benefits prevents them from conceiving a child, which in certain cases is a leading cause of divorce, and may also represent a restriction of the right to respect for one's private and family life. As various studies have demonstrated the significant positive effect stable family relations and social connections have on reducing the risk of reoffending, as well as the risk of attempting suicide and self-harming during one's stay in prison, penal institutions should encourage maintaining links to prisoners' families. The EPSA specifies that a penal institution has to organise primary education for prisoners up to 21 years of age who have not finished primary school, while literacy courses are organised irrespective of age. According to 2018 Ministry of Justice data, ten prisoners, eight of them women, do not have basic reading and writing skills and/or basic numeracy skills, while 237 (11%) have not completed primary education. The Mandela Rules (Rule 104) highlight the important role of education in preventing reoffending, emphasise the need to make education programmes available to all prisoners, while educating the illiterate, as well as younger prisoners needs to be compulsory. All 11