OPCAT - The National Preventive Mechanism

The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The operation of the NPM began in November 2014.

Read more about the National Preventive Mechanism: OPCAT brochure (pdf)

What does the National Preventive Mechanism do?

The NPM conducts inspection visits in places where people deprived of their liberty are or may be held. The aim of the visits is to prevent poor treatment of these people and violations of their human rights.

The places visited include:

  • police detention facilities (police prisons)
  • prisons
  • detention units for foreigners
  • psychiatric hospitals
  • child welfare institutions and
  • under certain conditions, housing service units and institutional units for elderly people and persons with disabilities

The NPM may issue recommendations aimed at:

  • improving the treatment and conditions of persons deprived of their liberty
  • preventing prohibited treatment

The NPM may also make proposals and give statements on existing or draft legislation.

Competence also extends to private operators

The NPM also conducts  visits in facilities maintained by private operators in which persons deprived of their liberty may be held either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence.

These places include:

  • detention facilities on board ships and in connection with public events
  • means of transport controlled or owned by private operators, used for transporting persons deprived of their liberty

External experts providing help during visits

During the NPM’s visits, the Parliamentary Ombudsman may use experts from different professions, such as physicians, and experts by experience. They are familiarised with the task of the NPM. The experts have the same powers as an official from the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The visit reports are published on the Ombudsman’s website

The observations made during visits and the opinions and recommendations based on them are entered in the visit reports. Since 2018, the NPM reports have been published on the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s website.

You will find the reports with the search function on the Finnish language pages of the Ombudsman’s website. On the Finnish page, select “Tarkastus” from the menu and enter the search term “opcat” in the field “hakusanat”.

Go to the search function (in Finnish)

Operation of the NPM in the Ombudsman’s annual reports

The operation of the NPM is described annually in the NPM section of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s annual report. You can familiarise yourself with the sections of the different years in the below links:

You will find the summaries of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s annual reports in English in their entirety here:

Parliamentary Ombudsman’s annual reports

Legislation

Provisions on the National Preventive Mechanism are laid down in Chapter 1a of the Parliamentary Ombudsman Act:

Parliamentary Ombudsman Act 197/2002 (Finlex.fi) (In Finnish)