The Human Rights Implementation Centre is one of the leading organisations working on the prevention of torture and ill-treatment worldwide. A ground-breaking monograph by Professor Sir Malcolm Evans and the Centre’s co-founder, Professor Rachel Murray in 2011, was the first to analyse the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) - which requires States to establish independent ‘National Preventive Mechanisms’ (NPMs) to monitor places of detention.

This provided the intellectual underpinning for a further programme of research (funded by the AHRC, European Union and UK government 2010-2016) that enabled HRIC to investigate:

• the effectiveness of NPMs in implementing OPCAT and preventing torture and ill-treatment
• the factors affecting the translation of international treaties at national level
• the measures for preventing torture at the supranational level

Designing National Preventative Mechanisms (NPMs)
HRIC identified numerous factors that determine the effectiveness of an NPM. Some of these are within the remit of the State authorities - such as how much funding the NPM receives and the level of independence it gives to the NPM - or depend on the political context of the State. Others relate to how the NPM conducts itself, its strategy and priorities, how it engages with other actors, including civil society, and the integrity of its members. The research established that there is no single organisational model that is more effective than others. What is needed is flexibility in design and approach.

Translating international anti-torture obligations into domestic law and practice
HRIC research explored the challenges that State actors around the world face in translating their international anti-torture obligations into national law and practice. The prevention of torture and ill treatment necessitates, for example, particular methodologies when visiting places of detention to detect potential violations and not just those that had already occurred. The research from staff in the HRIC also examined the procedures by which actors, including State authorities, are able to engage with the supranational level - and the ability of those supranational bodies to consider regional and national differences whilst upholding international standards. Between 2010-2019, the HRIC worked with a variety of partners to develop practical tools to enable State practitioners to prevent torture and other ill-treatment and provide remedies for victims. This included a package of guidance notes and checklists, pilot-tested in six African States to improve the domestication of, and compliance with, OPCAT.

Improving torture prevention across States
HRIC research has demonstrated impact in preventing torture, influencing the methods and strategies of supranational bodies, the choices they make about the States they visit and their role with respect to government and national bodies. It has worked with the UN’s Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), of which Professor Sir Malcolm Evans was Chair, and of the Committee on Prevention of Torture in Africa in particular. HRIC research highlights the importance of such connectivity between the national, regional and international levels.

NPMs also raising standards in psychiatric care
Professor Judy Laing is an expert on human rights and mental health law and a member of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) External Advisory Group on Mental Health Act monitoring. Together with Professor Murray she was commissioned by the CQC to conduct research on monitoring human rights in psychiatric facilities. In the Commission’s 2013-2016 strategy ‘Raising Standards. Putting People First’, the CQC stated that the findings would inform what they do and develop their monitoring under the Mental Health Act (MHA) in line with its responsibilities under OPCAT. The CQC has since adopted Laing’s recommendations to explicitly include human rights standards in its work and amended its monitoring reports accordingly, particularly in terms of better reflecting patients’ voices.