NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2020 20 direct conversations. We thus gain a better insight into both formal and informal rules and routines. As this was no longer an option, we had to develop new methods and utilise sources other than observations and interviews for the investigation. Corridor in a prison visited by the NPM. In the spring of 2020, the Ombudsman therefore conducted an investigation of how inmates were safeguarded in Norwegian prisons during the initial period after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation was based on information we obtained covering the period from 12 March to 14 May 2020. Methodological limitations and consequences for the investigation The NPM's work was also affected by the pandemic. On 11 March 2020, we decided to temporarily suspend our visits to avoid exposing anyone to increased risk of infection. At the same time, it was essential to still be able to safeguard our mandate, even in a situation where physical visits could not be conducted. Physical visits permit us to observe conditions at the places we visit and give us the opportunity to gain the confidence of those we speak to through 1 We carried out a survey that was distributed to a sample of inmates in four prisons. A survey cannot replace the interviews that we normally conduct with inmates; however, it did present an opportunity to include inmates’ perspectives when physical vis­ its were not possible. In the survey, we asked how the inmates had experienced the infection control measures; what kind of compensating initiatives they had been offered, and whether they had been placed in quarantine due to the coronavirus. Other sources included written information from relevant authorities, including dialogue with the Norwegian Correctional Service.1 We carried out telephone interviews with prison authorities in ten prisons, analysed written information and procedures from these prisons and from the prison health services in eight of the ten prisons. We spoke to the heads of the Supervisory Boards in the Correctional Service’s five regions and consulted voluntary organisations and members of the NPM's Advisory Committee The sample size of the survey limited the opportu­ nity to establish decisive findings concerning local practices in each prison. The recommendations given in the report were therefore primarily ad­ dressed to the relevant central authorities and not to the individual prisons. To ensure the findings were as representative as possible, we obtained information from both high and lower security sections, from female and male inmates and from prisons in all five Correctional Service’s regions. See the response from the Ministry of Health and Care Services to the written enquiry from the Ombudsman here: https://www.sivilombudsmannen.no/aktuelt/tortur-forebygging/om-konsekvensene-av-covid-19-for-frihetsberovede-svarbrev-fratre-departementer/