In an increasing number of countries, lists of candidates for vacant seats in the Committee are being drawn up in a manner that meets the requirements of Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1540 (2007) on improving selection procedures for CPT members. The Committee hopes that this will soon be the case in all countries. As the Parliamentary Assembly emphasised in its Resolution 1923 (2013) on reinforcing the selection processes for members of key Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, “at the national level, selection procedures must be transparent and open to competition, including through public calls for candidatures”. Indeed, this is the only way of ensuring that all persons placed on lists of candidates are capable of making an effective contribution to the CPT’s activities. Bureau of the CPT 77. Following the expiry of the mandate of the 1st Vice-President, elections to fill this post were organised at the Committee’s March 2016 plenary meeting. Marzena Ksel (Poland) was elected to this post. Secretariat of the CPT 78. During 2016, the Secretariat had to face a number of challenges notably due to the absence of some staff on extended sick leave, the retirement of two colleagues (Fabrice Kellens and Nadine Schaeffer) and the departure on sabbatical leave of one experienced administrator. A new administrator was recruited, and an experienced former staff member (Johan Friestedt) returned to the CPT Secretariat as head of the newly created Transversal Support Division (see Appendix 5). This new structure, performing horizontal support functions, is a more formal continuation of the “central section” that has developed over the years. Most of the vacant positions have now been filled, and the CPT believes that prospects for a more stable staffing situation in 2017 are good. The Committee wishes to place on record its gratitude to Mr Kellens and Ms Schaeffer for their contributions to the CPT’s work over many years. General Report of the CPT, 2016 ► Page 42