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United Kingdom - OPCAT Situation

Updated 08.05.2013

The APT is currently compiling OPCAT - related information on United Kingdom. Further detailed information will be soon available.

The SPT member Mari Amos is the SPT Focal Point for the United Kingdom.

The following 18 bodies were designated as NPM in the United Kingdom:

England and Wales

• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP)
• Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB)
• Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA)
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)
• Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Healthcare Inspectorate of Wales (HIW)
• Children’s Commissioner for England (CCE)
• Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)
• Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)

Scotland

• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS)
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS)
• Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC)
• Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWCS)
• The Care Commission (CC)

Northern Ireland

• Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB)
• Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI)
• Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)
• Northern Ireland Policing Board Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (NIPBICVS)

They are all coordinated by the UK HM Inspectorate for Prisons. Further information is available on the website of the Bristol Human Rights Implementation Centre (UK NPM Database).

Opcat status
OPCAT Ratification December 10, 2003
UNCAT Ratification December 8, 1988
SPT Member Mr. Malcolm Evans (2008 - 2016)
NPM Designated

18 bodies were designated as part of the UK NPM, coordinated by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons - Click for a complete list

NPM Type

Multiple Institutions

NPM Legal Framework

Ministerial Statement (March 2009)

Information
Population 63 047 162
Area (sq km) 243 610
Number of prisons 146
Prison population 92 531
Number of Detention Places for Migrants 3
Quick links

CPT: Visit (September 2012) - Press release

CAT: Concluding Observations (December 2004) and upcoming session in May 2013

UPR: Report of the Working Group (July 2012)

Commissioner for Human Rights (Council of Europe): Report (2004)

SPT: Official correspondence to the SPT on the designation of the NPM (3 November 2008).