Introduction The Chancellor must monitor respect for the fundamental rights of individuals held in custodial institutions. This task arises from the Act under which the Chancellor has been assigned the role of the national preventive mechanism set out in Article 3 of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). To perform this task, advisers from the Inspection Visits Department of the Chancellor’s Office carry out either announced or unannounced visits to these institutions. Places of detention means all institutions where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence. Various types of custodial institutions exist in Estonia: prisons, police detention facilities (including a detention centre for aliens), psychiatric hospitals providing involuntary treatment, social welfare institutions providing 24-hour special care services, etc. During the reporting period, the Chancellor carried out 25 inspection visits:  psychiatric hospitals – 6  24-hour special care institutions – 2  general care homes – 8  prisons – 2  police detention facilities – 3  units of the Defence Forces – 2  educational institutions for pupils requiring special educational measures due to behavioural problems or for pupils with emotional and conduct disorders – 2 Healthcare experts were involved in inspection visits on 18 occasions. 4