Subsequently, Cyprus ratified the Optional Protocol to the aforementioned Convention by Law 2(III)/2009, which entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on 27 March 2009. The objective of the Optional Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture. To this end, the Optional Protocol, which Cyprus has acceded to, provides for the following: (a) The establishment of a ten-member Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture as an international body which shall carry out unrestricted visits to places of deprivation of liberty in state Parties and be provided with all necessary information. The Subcommittee has also the mandate to advise and assist, when necessary, the national preventive bodies established under the Protocol. (b) The establishment of a national body on prevention of torture. The body designated by the aforementioned ratifying law to form Cyprus’s NPM was the Commissioner for Administration. The main provisions of the Ratifying Law concerning the Commissioner for Administration are the following: (1) The Commissioner for Administration is designated as the national visiting body as provided for in the Optional Protocol and shall act in accordance with article 3 of the Protocol. (2) In order to fulfil her role, the Commissioner for Administration has the mandate to conduct regular and unrestricted visits to places of detention to monitor compliance with the provisions of the Convention. 3