EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION / Alla Tymofeyeva (ed.)

As the need may arise, for example when an expertise in a particular field is needed, visiting delegations may be assisted by external experts . Further, visiting delegations are regularly accompanied by interpreters . 4. CPT POWERS IN RESPECT OF THE STATES To be able to effectively exercise its mandate, the CPT has several powers vis-à-vis the State Parties . First and foremost, it has unlimited access to any place where persons are deprived of their liberty , including the right to move inside such places without restriction, and to interview such persons in private . In fact, interviewing persons deprived of their liberty in private, i.e. without the staff or any other third person being present, is one of the key working methods of the CPT during visits. This is crucial so that members of the visiting delegations can establish a relationship of trust with the interviewed persons and obtain the necessary information, while guaranteeing to the interviewees that the information they agree to share with the CPT will be treated as confidential. In this way, the CPT strives to guarantee safety from any possible reprisals to the persons with whom it meets during its visits. Further, the Committee has the right of access to information which is necessary to carry out its task. This includes various registers maintained in the establishments visited, such as police custody records, the register of use of force, means of restraint and extraordinary events, documentation of disciplinary proceedings and complaints registers. This right must also be interpreted as giving the CPT access to medical documentation of persons deprived of their liberty which is necessary for the Committee to examine the provision of health care to the persons concerned and, more importantly, to assess the plausibility of any allegations of ill- treatment it may receive during the visit. In addition, the State Parties are obliged to provide the CPT with full information on the places where persons deprived of their liberty are being held, members of visiting delegations have access to the territory of the State Party and the right to travel without restriction, as well as to communicate freely with any person who can supply relevant information. In practice, this will include for example non-governmental organisations and academics active in areas of concern to the CPT, as well as, to a lesser extent, lawyers representing interests of persons deprived of their liberty. 5. VISITS AND REPORTS Before every visit, the CPT notifies the national authorities about its intention to carry out the visit. This is necessary so that the Committee and the national authorities can make practical arrangement to ensure that the visit starts and progresses smoothly and that the necessary information requested by the Committee in advance of the visit is gathered and transmitted to the delegation. At the beginning of the visit, the CPT’s delegation regularly holds meetings with various interlocutors, including national authorities, Ombudsperson Institutions and non-governmental organisations, to be updated on developments in the country since its previous visit, the current situation and the implementation of its previous recommendations. However, the vast majority of time is then spent by visiting places of deprivation of liberty in which the delegation examines the situation on the spot and makes its own assessment. Indeed, in doing so, particular attention is paid to ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty which is the core mandate of the CPT. However, given the preventive nature of its work, the scope of the assessment is broader and also covers any other matters which may give raise to an issue under Article 3 of the ECHR (“prohibition of torture”) or may serve as a preventive measure against ill-treatment. For example, CPT’s delegations examine material conditions in which persons deprived of their liberty are accommodated, regime and activities offered to them,

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION

139