Overview of the National Preventive Mechanism Topics of criticism voiced by the commissions (share in %) 1.4 Budget In 2020 a budget of EUR 1,450,000 was available to the heads and the members of the commissions as well as the members of the Human Rights Advisory Council. Of this amount, around EUR 1,281,000 were budgeted for the reimbursements and travel expenses for the members of the commissions, and around EUR 85,000 for the Human Rights Advisory Council. Around EUR 84,000 were available for workshops, supervision, PPE, other activities of the commissions and the AOB staff active in the OPCAT area. It was therefore possible to avoid budget cuts, thanks in particular to the National Council as the legislative body in financial matters but also to the Federal Ministry of Finance. Both of them emphasise the necessary financial independence for the preventive activities and show understanding for a sufficient budgetary allocation to the NPM. 1.5 Human resources 1.5.1 Personnel In order to implement the OPCAT mandate, the AOB received additional permanent positions in 2012. The AOB staff entrusted with NPM responsibilities are legal experts who have experience in the areas of rights of persons with disabilities, children’s rights, social rights, police, asylum and the judiciary. The organisational unit “OPCAT Secretariat” is responsible for coordinating the collaboration with the commissions. It also examines international papers and documents in order to support the NPM with information from similar institutions. From January 2021 there will be an additional employee working in the “Secretariat OPCAT”, as the limited function period for half of the 18