№5 and 12 to improve medical infrastructure. The Unit for Regulating Medical Activity of the Medical Department of the Ministry of Corrections (responsible for checking food, sanitary-hygienic conditions and medical services in penitentiary establishments) made some progress. It is worth noting that in the reporting period, no substantial steps have been made in order to secure full integration of penitentiary healthcare with public healthcare. Informing prisoners about preventive healthcare remains a challenge in 2015. The number of doctors and nurses was increased in 2015, albeit not sufficiently in some establishments. For example, the ratio of prisoners to medical staff (doctors and nurses) is high in the establishments №2, 14, 15 and 17. Regularity and frequency of inviting doctors, processing medical records and provision of dental care remain problematic in 2015. The question of accessibility of brand name medications also arises. Medical personnel mainly prescribe generic medications made available at the given establishment at the expense of the state, limiting the possibility of purchasing brand name medications by patients themselves. As regards positive developments, emergency medical assistance has been added to the classification of medical interventions. However, it is important that this development is reinforced in a normative act as soon as possible. The timeliness of medical referrals is problematic. The independence and competence of doctors constitutes a significant challenge. The Public Defender highlights the entry into force of the Georgian Law “Code of Juvenile Justice” in 2015. Informing juvenile prisoners about their rights and obligations in an understandable language remains a problem. It is also problematic that in 2015 juvenile prisoners were placed not only in the rehabilitative establishments for juveniles, but at the establishments №2 and №8. In addition, throughout the reporting period, it is possible to observe the expanding practice of transferring juvenile convicts to the establishments №2 and №8 temporarily, for security reasons. There is no environment appropriate for rehabilitation of juvenile prisoners in the mentioned establishments. Besides, juvenile prisoners are not isolated from adult prisoners. Accordingly, the Public Defender advises placement of all juvenile prisoners in the rehabilitative establishment for juveniles. Importantly, no disciplinary sanctions have been applied to juvenile convicts in 2015. The general situation at the penitentiary establishment №5 is satisfactory. The Public Defender welcomes creation of necessary infrastructure for long-term visits at this establishment. However, he views the absence of full checkup at the time of admission of prisoners at the establishment an important problem. There is a positive trend of reduced use of solitary confinement as a disciplinary sanction, but there are more trans18 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2015