On 14 May 2024, at the invitation of the Council of Europe, Deputy Ombudsman Ivan Šelih attended the meeting of the working group for the preparation of a practical guide for national prevention mechanisms (NPM) for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Recommendation on the Procedural Rights of Suspects and Defendants who Have Been Ordered into Pre-Trial Detention and the Material Conditions of Detention (Recommendation) [1].

The European Commission adopted the recommendation at the end of 2022. It sets guidelines for member states to adopt effective, appropriate, and proportionate measures to strengthen the rights of all suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings who are deprived of their liberty. The recommendation also sets out guidelines regarding the procedural rights of persons who have been ordered into pre-trial detention, as well as guidelines for the material conditions of detention, namely that persons deprived of their liberty are treated with dignity, that their fundamental rights are respected, and that deprivation of liberty is only a measure of last resort.

As part of the exchange of proposals on the content and form of the practical guide, Deputy Ombudsman Šelih submitted his suggestions, based on the extensive experience of the Slovenian NPM.

The working group consists of experts from several NPMs (in addition to Slovenia, representatives of NPMs from Italy, Poland, and France), representatives of the Council of Europe and experts selected from the competition group. It will meet again at the next meeting in September, when the selected experts will also prepare a draft guide.

[1] Commission Recommendation, Brussels 8.12.2022, (C(2022) 8987 final.