-3Preface By the end of 1993, the CPT had completed its first round of "periodic" visits to Parties to the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Within the space of four years, 231 countries were visited on a periodic basis. The CPT considered this was an appropriate moment to bring together the liaison officers appointed under Article 15 of the Convention, in order to gather the views of Parties on the Committee's activities and to discuss practical issues arising from its visits. Almost all of the Parties to the Convention were represented at that meeting, which took place in Strasbourg on 4 March 1994. The fruits of the meeting shall be set out in the Committee's next General Report (covering the year 1994). However, the CPT wishes to take this opportunity to express its appreciation of the very constructive nature of the discussions with the liaison officers, all of whom clearly indicated their support for the Committee's work. This General Report is somewhat shorter than its predecessors. Much has already been written in previous General Reports concerning the procedural and organisational framework for the conduct of the CPT's visits, and there have been no notable changes to that framework during 1993. Further, unlike the 2nd and 3rd General Reports, the present report does not contain a "substantive" section. Although there is no lack of suitable subjects, a particularly heavy workload and the fact that 1993 was something of a transitional year for the CPT in terms of its membership, have led the Committee to decide to reserve further substantive sections for future General Reports. 1 Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

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