presented in this chapter is based on information obtained from the sources31 available for the National Preventive Mechanism during the reporting period. 3 of the recommendations made to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia concerned the enhancement of procedural and institutional safeguards against ill-treatment. In particular, in her first recommendation, the Public Defender called on the Ministry of Justice to define, by a subordinate normative act, the obligation of a doctor employed in penitentiary institutions to immediately report ill-treatment to an independent investigative body. This recommendation has been endorsed by the Parliament of Georgia and has been reflected in its resolution.32 The mentioned recommendation has not been implemented. According to the current edition,33 in case of noticing injuries on a patient's body, the doctor of the penitentiary institution shall provide the relevant information to the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, which is a structural subdivision of the Ministry of Justice and is not independent or impartial from an institutional point of view. Immediately reporting the cases of torture and ill-treatment by a doctor to an institutionally independent investigative body is one of the most important requirements of the Istanbul Protocol.34 In the second recommendation, the Public Defender called on the Ministry to define, by a subordinate normative act, the obligation of the doctor to describe and photograph an injury, and to send it to an independent investigative authority in all cases when the doctor suspects that a prisoner was tortured or ill-treated, regardless of whether the doctor receives informed consent from the prisoner or not. This recommendation was also reflected in the report published by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on its visit paid to Georgia in 2019.35 This recommendation has not been implemented. The Ministry of Justice, in its response to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, says that the issue of documenting and photographing injuries, and taking 31 Information received during the monitoring visits conducted by the Special Preventive Group in 2019; a reply letter received from the Special Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice regarding the report on the monitoring visit to Penitentiary Establishments Nos. 2, 8, 14 and 15; information obtained from other open sources (e.g. the website of the Special Penitentiary Service). 32 Resolution of the Parliament of Georgia on the Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2018. 33 Order No. 131 of the Minister of Corrections of Georgia of October 26, 2016 on the approval of the rules of registration of injuries suffered by the untried/convicted persons as a result of alleged torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in penitentiary facilities of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia, Article 2 (3). 34 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), para. 73, available in English at: <https://bit.ly/2Ucx9vL> [last accessed: 10.01.2020]. 35 Report (CPT/Inf (2019) 16) of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on its visit paid to Georgia on September 10-21, 2018, para. 80, available in English at: <https://rm.coe.int/1680945eca> [last accessed: 15.01.20]. 25