treatment or punishment. In this regard, it may also submit proposals and comments on applicable or drafted acts. Official places of deprivation of liberty in the Republic of Slovenia include in particular: – prisons and all their units and Radeče Juvenile Correctional Facility, – educational institutions, – certain social care institutions – retirement homes and special social care institutions, – psychiatric hospitals, – detention rooms at police stations and Ljubljana Police Detention Centre, – the Aliens Centre and the Asylum Centre, – detention rooms operated by the Slovenian Armed Forces, and – all other locations as per Article 4 of the Optional Protocol (for example, police intervention vehicles, etc.). As the NPM, the Ombudsman engages experts with the widest range of recommended specialist knowledge. Since selected NGOs cannot provide certain other suitable experts and because the Ombudsman does not dispose of an expert in the field of medical care, certain external experts had to be engaged. On the basis of a public call for proposals for the purpose of recruiting doctors/expert specialists to help the Ombudsman to establish, clarify or evaluate evidence of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or to support the Ombudsman during visits to places of deprivation of liberty with suitable expert knowledge which the Ombudsman lacks, the Ombudsman selected doctors/expert specialists. In 2016, we cooperated with Dr Peter Pregelj, specialist/ psychiatrist, and Dr Milan Popovič, specialist in general surgery. In one case, we sought the assistance of external expert, Dr Darja Boben Bardutzky, specialist/psychiatrist. An individual expert selected from the list by the Ombudsman as per the type and place of an individual visit performs their tasks according to the orders and instructions of the Ombudsman and in cooperation with the Ombudsman’s expert colleagues by participating in planned visits and providing written replies to the Ombudsman’s questions in the role of the NPM and providing their own findings, particularly on the suitability of medical care and the treatment of people deprived of liberty. The selected NGOs implement their tasks and powers with persons qualified for individual fields of supervision as members of a group appointed by the Ombudsman to implement supervision in places of deprivation of liberty and the examination of treatment of people deprived of liberty. The group implementing supervision is thus composed of the Ombudsman’s representatives and selected organisations who observe the programme of visits adopted by the Ombudsman in cooperation with the selected organisations. If necessary, other circumstances demanding an immediate visit are also taken into account. The NPM drafts a comprehensive (final) report on the findings established at the visited institution after each visit. The report also covers proposals and recommendations for the elimination of established irregularities and to improve the situation, including measures to reduce the possibilities of improper treatment in the future. The Ombudsman’s representatives and the representatives of the selected NGOs participate in drafting the report on the visit. All participants, including NGO representatives, must prepare a brief report on their findings, together with proposals, which form part of the report on the implemented supervision. The report is submitted to the competent authority (i.e. the superior body of the visited institution) with a proposal that the authority take a position on the statements or recommendations in the report and submit it to the Ombudsman by a determined deadline. The institution concerned also receives the report, and a preliminary report is drafted in certain cases (when visiting social care institutions and psychiatric hospitals). A representative of the Ombudsman is usually responsible for preparing the report on the visit, although a person from a selected NGO may also be appointed for this purpose. On the basis of the final report, the response of the competent authority and possible additional observations of the NPM, a brief report is published online after each visit.5 5  See: http://www.varuh-rs.si/o-instituciji/podrocja-dela-varuha/varuh-kot-drzavni-preventivni-mehanizem/. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2016 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT 7