Chapter 3 • The Major Regional Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation 4.4 The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1987 The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment59 was adopted in 1987 and entered into force on 1 February 1989. As of 30 April 2002 it had 42 Contracting Parties. While the European Convention is closely related to the Convention against Torture adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1984, which was dealt with in Chapter 2, it has a distinctive feature in that it established a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which, as will be seen below, has the power to visit any place of detention within the jurisdiction of the Contracting States. 4.4.1 The undertakings of the States parties and the monitoring mechanism The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture contains no definition of the illegal act or practice of torture, but, in its second preambular paragraph, it refers to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Since the monitoring procedure set up under the European Convention on Human Rights operates only in regard to the lodging of individual or inter-State complaints, it was considered necessary to create “a non-judicial means of a preventive character based on visits” in order to try to eradicate the use of torture in European places of detention (see fourth preambular paragraph). The purpose of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is therefore “by means of visits [to] examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (art. 1). The State party “shall permit visits”, in accordance with the Convention, “to any place within its jurisdiction where persons are deprived of their liberty by a public authority” (art. 2), and, to this end, “the Committee and the competent national authorities ... shall cooperate with each other” (art. 3). The Committee consists of a number of members equal to that of the States parties, who serve in their individual capacity in an independent and impartial manner (art. 4). “Apart from periodic visits, the Committee may organize such other visits as appear to it to be required in the circumstances” (art. 7). After having notified the Government of the Party concerned of its intention to carry out a visit, the Committee “may at any time visit any place” within the jurisdiction of the relevant State party “where persons are deprived of their liberty by a public authority” (art. 8(1) read in conjunction with art. 2). 59 ETS no.: 126. Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 107