stipulates that when registering injuries, in case of a patient’s consent, a health-care professional is obliged to take a colour photo of the injury. The Public Defender of Georgia welcomes the fact that the issue at stake has been legally regulated and considers that the approval of the above-mentioned procedure is clearly a step forward. It is, however, noteworthy that the new procedure of registering inmates’ bodily injuries was not enacted in the reporting period.35 Registering of injuries was conducted, as in previous years, in accordance with the procedure in force, therefore failing to ensure effective identification of the incidents of alleged treatment and their documentation. Furthermore, the Public Defender of Georgia believes it is necessary to make certain amendments to the aforementioned procedure for the effective identification of alleged ill-treatment. These considerations are discussed below. Firstly, it should be pointed out that Article 6 of the Procedure for Registering Injuries of Remand/Convicted Inmates at the Penitentiary Establishments of the Ministry of Corrections Sustained as the Result of Alleged Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment as approved by Order no. 131 of the Minister of Corrections of Georgia, dated 26 October 2016, in cases where a health-care professional has suspicions about torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, he/she has to inform the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Corrections. The Public Defender welcomes the fact that the obligation of a health-care professional to inform investigative authorities has been statutorily stipulated. However, the Public Defender still believes that initiating and conducting investigation by the Investigative Department of the Ministry does not fulfil the obligation to carry out an independent, impartial and effective investigation. In the Parliamentary Report of 2015, the Public Defender of Georgia issued a recommendation to the Minister of Corrections with regard to informing investigative authorities on alleged ill-treatments. It was recommended to provide in a respective sub-legislative normative act for the obligation of a penitentiary establishment’s doctor to notify directly the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia upon receiving information of, or finding, an inmate who could have been possibly subjected to ill-treatment. According to the Ministry of Corrections, the practice of notifying the Investigative Department of the Ministry is dictated by the regulation on Determining Investigative and Territorial Jurisdiction of Criminal Cases as approved by Order no. 34 of the Minister of Justice, dated 7 July 2013. In accordance with the aforementioned regulation, the investigators of the investigative unit of the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia have the jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed on the premises of penitentiary establishments within the system of the Penitentiary Department. Stemming from the above-mentioned, the recommendation at stake has not been fulfilled and, therefore, the position of the Public Defender on this issue remains the same. Furthermore, the Public Defender deems it necessary that the respective sub-legislative 35 28 Will be in force as of 1 April 2017. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CLOSED INSTITUTIONS