Correctional institutions the health hazards of tobacco smoke. Adequate measures must be taken to implement this as soon as possible. The duty of care, which applies in the penal system, also extends to a child living in detention. Small children must not be exposed to passive smoke. A total ban on smoking in the mother-child area should go without saying. Children have a special need for protection This recommendation is based on a visit to Graz-Jakomini correctional institution. The NPM noticed a seating arrangement there, which was located immediately in front of a mother-child inmate cell and was used as a smoker’s corner. The mothers and children had to pass through this area, and the small children were constantly exposed to smoke. Immediately after the NPM’s visit, this smoker’s corner was removed so that children are no longer endangered by passive smoking. The NPM also emphasises that employers and police station management must take suitable technical or organisational measures to ensure that personnel are protected from the effects of tobacco smoke in the workplace, in communal rooms and stand-by rooms. In addition, the Maternity Protection Act forsees employment limitations and restrictions in order to protect the health of the mother-to-be and the child. Staff must also be protected The Federal Ministry assured the NPM that the facility management would be informed that smoking is prohibited in the corridors, the charge offices, rooms where the inmates work, communal rooms and stand-by rooms. However, smoking areas can be set up at the correctional institutions. In most correctional institutions, smoking is permitted out-of-doors, in inmate cells and in the specially marked smoking rooms. According to the Federal Ministry, the space inside the locked area is not a public space. Therefore, the ban on smoking does not apply there. However, at the same time, the Federal Ministry generally acknowledges that it must seek improvement in the area of tobacco control. An information campaign directed at staff and inmates is under consideration. The campaign will point out the harmfulness of nicotine and its consequences, and provide information on various means to stop smoking. The Federal Ministry is convinced that more can be achieved by providing information than by prohibitions. Convince rather than punish The Federal Ministry plans to set up an interdisciplinary working group to improve tobacco control. In addition to persons engaged in correctional practice, experts on basic rights and medicine will be included in this working group. The results obtained by the working group will be used as the basis for formulating a comprehensive strategy to protect non-smokers in facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders. The working group will have its first meeting in early 2018. Interdisciplinary working group 119