ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES systems, clarification of the term ‘judicial or other competent authorities, including those vested with reviewing and remedial power’ (see Rule 56 (3) and Rule 57 (1)) and practical measures to prevent reprisals. The experts recommended that prison administrations keep track of the number and nature of complaints as they are an important indicator for identifying and addressing grievances with the potential to prevent unrest and violence.451 The UN Committee against Torture has called for ‘a centralized register of complaints that includes information on the corresponding investigations, trials and criminal and/or disciplinary penalties imposed’.452 The SPT has taken the lack of any trace of complaints by detainees in registers as evidence for the absence of an ‘institutionalized complaints system’.453 Who can issue a complaint? The beneficiaries of the right to make requests and complaints are captured in Rule 56 (4). Primarily this is the prisoner, but also his/her legal representative and in case neither is able to exercise the right a ‘member of the prisoner’s family or any other person who has knowledge of the case’. The Essex group recalled that the entitlement of family members to make a request or complaint seeks to account for the well acknowledged barriers of persons deprived of their liberty to contact the outside world, and does not require any proof of the detainee’s inability to submit a complaint. For example, this is provided for in Principle VII of the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas.454 How are prisoners informed about complaint mechanisms? Examining Rules 54(b) and 55, the Essex group shared the observation of the Special Rapporteur on Torture that, because of literacy limitations (including legal literacy) and learning disabilities many detainees have difficulty in completing complaint forms. Formal requirements should therefore be minimal and if forms are used, they should be simple and accessible, including for ‘those who may have limited communication abilities’.455 Prison administrations should therefore make information about requests and complaints available ‘in both written and oral form, in Braille and easy-to-read formats, and in sign languages for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals’ and ‘display it prominently in all places of deprivation of liberty’.456 It is good practice to display posters illustrating the avenues to issue requests or complaints on prison walls in an easy-to-understand way. An effective complaint system and records of complaints lodged are recommended also by the IACHR, stating that ‘the reception and examination of complaints and petitions is an effective mechanism for (…) detecting structural deficiencies or abuses committed by prison officials’ (IACHR Report on Persons Deprived of Liberty, p. 87. 451  CAT SMR revision observations, para. 53. 452  SPT Report on visit to Mali, CAT/OP/MLI/1, para. 91. 453  Principle VII of the Inter-American Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas states: ‘Persons deprived of liberty shall have the right of individual and collective petition and the right to a response before judicial, administrative, or other authorities. This right may be exercised by third parties or organizations, in accordance with the law. This right comprises, amongst others, the right to lodge petitions, claims, or complaints before the competent authorities, and to receive a prompt response within a reasonable time.’ 454  CAT SMR revision observations, CAT/C/51/4, para.54. 455  Special Rapporteur on Torture report 2013, A/68/295, para. 79. 456  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 114