given psychotropic drugs without need and only based on the prisoner’s request; and he was involved only in a short term replacement therapy course, but unsuccessfully. On 19 September 2016, the Public Defender of Georgia sent proposal no. 15-11/11031 to the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia concerning the death of convict N.B. The circumstances revealed, based on the study of medical and other documentation kept in penitentiary establishment no. 17, that the personnel of the establishment possibly committed the act under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Georgia – official negligence. According to response no. 13/65056 received from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office on 11 October 2016, the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia started investigation on criminal case no. 073150816002 under Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, on the incident of driving convict N.B. to suicide. According to the correspondence from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, the circumstances of the incident were investigated comprehensively and upon the establishment of the requisite legal ground, the investigation would be continued under Article 3421 of the Criminal Code as the subjects of this provision were, according to the notice given to this Article, the personnel of the Medical Department of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia. These persons were deemed to have the same status as the personnel of the special penitentiary service of the administrative personnel of the establishment of deprivation of liberty. Therefore, their failure to perform their function duly in accordance with the regulations of their office falls within the competence of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia.327 It is noteworthy that there are specific circumstances in the above cases that could be indicating alleged official negligence on the part of the medical personnel of penitentiary establishments. Accordingly, the investigation conducted by the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Corrections does not discharge the obligation of ensuring independent, impartial and effective investigation since the Investigative Department is not an institutionally independent investigative authority in this case. The Public Defender observes that in all cases of the death of a patient, involving a possible suicide and specific circumstances indicating commission of a crime by a staff member or medical personnel of the establishment, the investigation should be conducted by the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONS OF GEORGIA: • To ensure screening of prisoners’ health condition and to ensure that the prisoners having mental health problems are provided with timely and adequate psychiatric assistance; 327 Order no. 34 of the Minister of Justice of Georgia dated 7 July 2013 on Determining Investigative and Territorial Jurisdiction in Criminal Cases, Article 8. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2016 151