Public Defender was notified by the Ministry of Corrections that efforts on improving legal regulations were underway in the Legal Department to avoid similar incidents in future.97 The Public Defender points out that the whole idea of National Preventive Mechanism is based on unimpeded access of the members of this mechanism to the places of detention, deprivation of liberty and other places of restriction of liberty and carrying out spontaneous monitoring (without prior notifications) of these places, which in turn aims at preventing torture and ill-treatment. The objective and spirit of both the Optional Protocol of the United Nations Convention against Torture and the Organic Law of Georgia on the Public Defender of Georgia clearly show that unrestricted access of Special Preventive Group members to all places of detention and their installations and facilities is essential for the effective fulfilment of their mandate and functions. In this regard, the Imprisonment Code (Article 60.1.g) is in full compliance with international regulation, as under the Code, the members of the Special Preventive Group do not need any special permission to access penitentiary establishments; a different procedure regulates their admission. Therefore, a member of the Public Defender’s Special Preventive Group, due to his/her mandate, is not to be requested to undergo inspection of any kind. Moreover, they are not to be obliged to undergo screening by a scanner or full body search. However, as the practice has been established, the members of the Special Preventive Group showed good will and agreed to be subjected to inspection with metal detectors despite having no such obligations. In the light of the above-mentioned, the Public Defender stresses the importance of the fact that the personnel of the Ministry of Corrections should be adequately informed about the legal regulations in force to avert obstruction of the National Preventive Mechanism and unreasonable restriction of the rights of ordinary citizens. The Public Defender emphasises the importance that the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Corrections should pay special attention to the monitoring of inspection of the visitors to penitentiary establishments. It is important in terms of eradicating arbitrariness of the personnel and ensuring that inspection is carried out in accordance with the existing legislation and international standards. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONS OF GEORGIA: • To ensure the review of the legal framework governing screening of remand/ convicted persons to bring it in compliance with international standards and striking a fair balance between the safety/security and human rights protection interests; 97 Letter no. MOC 917 00201654 of the Ministry of Corrections dated 16 March 2017 (registered under no. 033/3330 at the Public Defender’s Office). NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2016 59