The work of the National Agency was also presented to the specialist public at large numbers of lectures. The Federal Agency and the Commission of the Länder explained their work in October 2010 for the first time at a conference of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Potsdam on the topic of “A comparison of torture prevention mechanisms”. The two lectures were then published by the Human Rights Centre in the series entitled “Studies on Fundamental and Human Rights” (Studien zu Grund- und Menschenrechten)32. Furthermore, a contribution by the Director of the Federal Agency appeared in the volume published by Christoph Gusy in the summer of 2011 entitled “Human rights monitoring – opportunities and boundaries of out-of-court human rights protection” (Grundrechtsmonitoring – Chancen und Grenzen außergerichtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes).33 Additionally, the Commission of the Länder presented the foci of its work on the occasion of the 37th working and further training conference of the Federal Association of Prison Governors, held in Straubing on 7 June 2011. Additional lectures were held at the Federal University of Public Administration and Judicial Administration and at the annual conference of psychiatrists in Bavarian prisons. 2. International cooperation The National Agency also expanded its contacts with international partners in the period under review. The first official contact with the UN Subcommittee on the prevention of torture in Geneva took place in November 2010. A meeting also took place with the President of the Swiss National Commission for the Prevention of Torture on the sidelines of the presentation before the members of the Subcommittee. Furthermore, the National Agency introduced its work to the Association for the Prevention of Torture and reported on its initial results. The information obtained by the National Agency was received with great interest and was included, amongst other topics, in a position paper of the APT on the status of national preventive mechanisms in the federal system. A delegation of the CPT implemented its periodic state visit to Germany in November and December 2010. The National Agency attended the official opening of the visit and the final talks in the Federal Ministry of Justice, and participated in talks with the delegation. Staff members of several states established contact with the National Agency in order to obtain information on the implementation of the Optional Protocol in Germany. For instance, the Director of the Federal Agency held talks with delegates of the Australian Embassy in Berlin in October 2010 and explained the legal basis, as well as the functioning of the National Agency. The background to the talks were efforts by the Australian Government to transpose the requirements of the OP-CAT in national law. In May 2011, the secretariat in Wiesbaden received a delegation of the Azerbaijani ombudsman, who wished to learn about, amongst other things, the work of the National Agency during a study visit organised by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. This was also followed by a presentation by the Director of the Federal Agency before the delegation in Berlin. 32 Geiger, Hansjörg (2011): Presentation of the Commission of the Länder for the Prevention of Torture. In: Zimmermann, Andreas (ed.): Folterprävention im völkerrechtlichen Mehrebenensystem. Studien zu Grund- und Menschenrechten Vol. 16, Universitätsverlag Potsdam, pp. 121-126. Lange-Lehngut, Klaus (2011): Aufgaben und Arbeitsweise der Bundesstelle zur Verhütung von Folter im nationalen Präventionsmechanismus Deutschlands. In: Zimmermann, Andreas (ed.): Folterprävention im völkerrechtlichen Mehrebenensystem. Studien zu Grund- und Menschenrechten Vol. 16, Universitätsverlag Potsdam, pp. 113-120. 33 Lange-Lehngut, Klaus (2011): Das präventive Besuchsverfahren der Bundesstelle zur Verhütung von Folter. In: Gusy, Christoph (ed.): Grundrechtsmonitoring. Chancen und Grenzen außergerichtlichen Menschenrechtsschutzes. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 64-76. 81