- 25 VII. PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE a) Increasing the number of Parties 85. The CPT is pleased that 20 of the 24 member States of the Council of Europe have already ratified the Convention and that almost all of those which have not yet done so (Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein) have set in motion the ratification procedure. The CPT very much hopes that by the end of 1991, all member States of the Council of Europe will be Parties to the Convention. 86. In addition, the CPT subscribes to the idea - suggested by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and supported by the governments of some member States, on the occasion of the Informal Ministerial Conference on Human Rights held in Rome on 5 November 1990 - that the Convention should be opened to the States members of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe which are not members of the Council of Europe. The CPT sees a lot of merit in such an opening up of the Convention. The monitoring and preventive action carried out by the Committee would gradually extend to an increased number of States. This should prove beneficial to the cause of human rights, as common standards of protection for persons deprived of their liberty would be applied to a broader circle of countries. Moreover, although they have different backgrounds, there is now a considerable identity of values between the CSCE States. The integration into the system established under the Convention of non member States that participate in the CSCE should therefore be a relatively harmonious process. b) Increasing the number of CPT members with non-legal backgrounds 87. The experience of the CPT's first year of activity has shown that although lawyers and experts in human rights constitute an indispensable component of the CPT, persons coming from other professions, and in particular medical doctors and experts in penitentiary systems, play a decisive role in the Committee's operation, especially in the course of visits. Furthermore, it has become increasingly apparent that female members of the CPT make an essential contribution to the Committee in terms of experience, psychological sensitivity and fair-mindedness. 88. The Committee feels that a greater number of its members should belong to the aforementioned professions and be female. Admittedly, whenever persons coming from a certain profession are needed for a visit, and no Committee member of that profession is available, the CPT can draw on experts, However, the participation of persons with the professional backgrounds mentioned at all stages of the Committee's work would prove beneficial; this is only possible through membership of the Committee. c) Increasing the number of visits 89. As already mentioned, the CPT carried out five visits in 1990. In 1991 it intends to undertake six periodic visits (to France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), as well as, if necessary, ad hoc or follow-up visits.