Section three The NPM in 2015–16 detention, which were discussed by NPM members. Members of the UK NPM provided advice to the Council of Europe Committee for Prevention of Torture before and during its periodic visit to England and Wales at the end of the reporting year. The visit focused on assessing the conditions of detention and treatment of persons held in prisons in England, and examining the safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police. The visit also had a specific focus on mental health establishments in England for the first time – both inpatient adult psychiatry and medium and high secure forensic psychiatry – and examined issues relating to persons held under immigration legislation. The CPT’s report is expected to be published early in 2017. During the year the NPM was also actively involved in a number of international projects and discussions relating to NPMs. The NPM gave significant input into the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights and Bristol University Centre for Human Rights project on ‘Strengthening the Follow‑up on NPM recommendations in the EU’, and participated in the Association for the Prevention of Torture’s (APT) symposium on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons deprived of their liberty in June 2015. The NPM met informally with the Dutch and Swiss NPMs in July 2015 and January 2016 to discuss common issues relating to detention and monitoring. The NPM coordinator was invited to participate in the United Nations Minority Forum in November 2015. She made comments on a draft set of recommendations on minorities in the criminal justice system at an expert meeting, and delivered a speech on the UK’s experience to Minority Forum delegates. NPM members continued to exchange their experience with bodies from around the world who were interested in OPCAT implementation and detention monitoring. • CJINI hosted a delegation from the Lebanese Inspectorate General in January 2016 who were interested in, among other things, their role as an NPM and the implementation of OPCAT. In October 2015 CJINI shared its NPM experience and working methods with a team from the Health Information and Quality Authority from the Republic of Ireland which inspects places of detention for children. • ICVA arranged for a group of four lawyers from Fiji, accompanied by the APT, to shadow a visit to police custody in March 2016. This experience was aimed at informing their work on legal protections in Fiji. • During the year HMI Prisons received visits from the Tokyo Bar Association, a delegation of prison officers from Ukraine, officials from the French government, the New Zealand National Commissioner in the Department of Corrections, and a group of Ugandan prison officers visiting the UK as part of a secondment with the African Prisons Project. • The NPM coordination received a delegation from the Australian Attorney General’s Office who were planning for the designation of an NPM in Australia and shared their experience of coordinating a multi-body NPM. 35

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