16 2. Staff members participating in performing tasks related to the NPM 2.1. Public servants in the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Pursuant to Article 18.2 of the OPCAT, the States Parties “shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the experts of the national preventive mechanism have the required capabilities and professional knowledge. They shall strive for a gender balance and the adequate representation of ethnic and minority groups in the country.” In the performance of my tasks related to the NPM, I may act in person or by way of the members of my staff authorized by me. Staff members authorized by me shall have the investigative powers of the NPM,46 and the obligation for cooperation of the authorities concerned as well as their management and staff pursuant to Section 25 shall be complied with also in their respect.47 To perform tasks related to the NPM, I have to authorize, on a permanent basis, at least eleven public servants from among the staff members of my Office. The “authorized public servant staff members shall be experts with a graduate degree and have outstanding knowledge in the field of the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty or have at least five years of professional experience.” Among them, “there shall be at least one person who has been proposed by the Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights responsible for the protection of the rights of nationalities living in Hungary and at least two persons each with a degree in law, medicine and psychology respectively. Among the authorized public servant staff members, the number of the representatives of either sex may exceed that of the other by one at the most.”48 The staff members of my Office permanently authorized to perform tasks related to the NPM49 carry out their activities within a separate organizational unit, the OPCAT National Preventive Mechanism Department.50 On January 1, 2017, the Department started to work with two psychologists and six lawyers on board. The Department’s gender composition is in compliance with the provisions of the Ombudsman Act. In 2017, while performing the tasks related to the NPM, I had to face two major challenges. On the one hand, due to the lack of applicants, we could not fill the two physician positions stipulated in Section 39/D(4) of the Ombudsman Act. My Office employed the physicians participating in the NPM’s visits on an ad hoc basis, using civil law contracts. On the other hand, staff turnover was rather high among the lawyers participating in the performance of tasks related to the NPM. Two of the six lawyers working in the Department on January 1, 2017, left during the year. The vacated lawyer positions have been filled through an open call for application, in accordance with the Ombudsman Act’s provisions on gender composition.51 A psychologist has also been added to my staff permanently authorized to perform tasks related to the NPM. Taking over and completing the ongoing tasks of their departing colleagues, filling the vacated positions, and training their newly hired colleagues have placed a heavy burden on the staff members of the Department. Due to the permanently vacant physician and the temporarily vacant lawyer positions, the Department worked, on average, with six public servant staff members during the year. See Sections 21, 22, 26, and 27(1)-(2) of the Ombudsman Act See Section 39/D(1) of the Ombudsman Act 48 See Section 39/D(3) of the Ombudsman Act 49 See Section 39/D(3) of the Ombudsman Act 50 „Guidelines on national preventive mechanisms”, CAT/OP/12/5, Clause 32 51 „Guidelines on national preventive mechanisms”, CAT/OP/12/5, Clause 16 46 47