18 1. The legal background of the operation of the National Preventive Mechanism The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter the “CPT”) has been established by Article 1 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. The CPT shall, by means of regular visits to the territories of the High Contracting Parties, “examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Following every visit, the CPT prepares a report containing, in addition to the facts discovered in the course of the visit, the comments of the body and its recommendations to the authorities concerned. The CPT met the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights for the first time during its 1999 periodic visit;33 since then, the CPT has visited the ombudsman institution during every visit paid to Hungary.34 I received the delegation of the CPT on 19 November 2018, during its visit to Hungary.35 Since the provisions of the OPCAT “do not affect the obligations of States Parties under any regional convention instituting a system of visits to places of detention,” 36 the CPT’s reports on its visits to Hungary are of major importance for me. When drafting the National Preventive Mechanism’s firstever schedule of visits, I relied on the conclusions of the CPT’s reports on its visits to Hungary, its recommendations made to the Government, as well as the latter ’s response thereto.37 The comprehensive standards38 of treating persons deprived of their liberty, elaborated by the CPT, interpret the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, stipulated in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, from the aspects of the practical operation of various places of detention (e.g. prisons, police lock-ups, psychiatric institutions, detention centres for refugees) and various vulnerable groups, such as women and juveniles. 33 34 35 36 37 38 The first Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights (Ombudsman) was inaugurated on 1 July 1995. Information related to the CPT’s visits to Hungary is available at: http://www.coe.int/en/ web/cpt/hungary On the CPT’s visit to Hungary between 20 and 29 November 2018, see: https://www.coe. int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-visits-hungary Article 31 of OPCAT. See: CPT: Report to the Hungarian Government on the visit to Hungary carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 3 to 12 April 2013 [CPT/Inf (2014) 13] and The Hungarian Government’s Response to the CPT’s Report [CPT/Inf (2014) 14]. See: CPT standards https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/standards