CPT: 9TH GENERAL REPORT 11 CPT membership Administrative and financial questions 16. Five new CPT members were elected by the Committee of Ministers in the course of 1998: Mr Aleš Butala (in respect of Slovenia), Mr Aurel Kistruga (Moldova), Mr Rudolf Schmuck (Germany), Mr Davor Strinović (Croatia) and Mr Volodymyr Yevintov (Ukraine). Further, since the beginning of 1999, four more new members have been elected: Mr Fatmir Braka (in respect of Albania), Mr Yuri Kudryavtsev (Russian Federation), Mrs Veronica Pimenoff (Finland) and Mrs Maria Teresa Pizarro Beleza (Portugal). 18. By letter of 17 June 1996 to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the President of the CPT set out the projected needs of the CPT in the years to come. The prediction was made that “by the year 2000, some 40 to 45 States will have become Parties to the Convention”. To cope with this situation, it was indicated that the CPT wished to be in a position to organise 200 days of visits per year as from the year 2000, which would enable the Committee to ensure that the average period between periodic visits to a given country does not exceed four years. In parallel with this increase in visit days, a reorganisation of the Committee’s Secretariat into three operational units (supported by a central section) was envisaged, the total number of staff posts to increase to 23. At the time of publication of this report, the CPT has 35 members.7 The seats in respect of Andorra, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” are currently vacant. 17. The expanding membership of the Committee brings with it its own challenges. Indeed, the more the CPT's membership grows, the greater the ingenuity required of the Committee in order to sustain the efficiency and cost effectiveness of its working methods, in particular where plenary sessions are concerned (cf. paragraph 8). The above-mentioned prediction has turned out to be accurate. Forty of the forty-one member States of the Council of Europe are now bound by the Convention establishing the CPT, and the forty-first (Georgia) is expected to ratify the Convention by 27 April 2000. As already indicated (cf. paragraph 14), the number of Parties will most probably increase further in the years to come. 19. Unfortunately, the vast expansion of the CPT’s field of operations in recent years (cf Appendix 1 A and B) has not been matched by a corresponding increase in the Committee’s resources. The number of visit days and the level of Secretariat resources identified in the CPT President's letter of 17 June 1996 are still a considerable way from being reached. As a result, the CPT’s effectiveness is being undermined; in particular, the Committee does not at present have the necessary resources for developing meaningful programmes of visits in certain countries with exceptionally large inmate populations in respect of which the Convention has recently entered into force. The CPT has proposed that the number of visit days and the Secretariat’s resources be brought up to the necessary levels over the next three years. The CPT very much hopes that the Council of Europe will be in a position to implement this proposal. By virtue of its powers and experience, the Committee can make a significant contribution to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment throughout the European continent (and even beyond), provided the necessary means are placed at its disposal. 7 See Appendix 2 A for the full list of CPT members. Abridged curricula vitae of the members can be obtained from the CPT's Secretariat.