The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in June 1987. It entered into force in February 1989 and all 47 member States are Parties to the Convention. The Convention has already established itself as an important human rights instrument. Its approach is quite different from that of the European Convention on Human Rights. Whereas the ECHR provides a remedy for particular human rights violations after the event, the Convention for the Prevention of Torture (ECPT) seeks to prevent human rights violations, through a system of visits to places of detention. The Convention is intended to be an integrated part of the Council of Europe system for the protection of human rights, placing a proactive non-judicial mechanism alongside the reactive judicial mechanism established under the ECHR. The Yearbook of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture offers an essential annual overview of developments in relation to the ECPT. Part One contains information on ratifications and other such issues in the authentic English and French texts. Part Two has details in English and French of the membership and activities of the Convention. Part Three reprints the twentieth annual General Report of the ECPT in the official English and French texts. Part Four contains the ECPT's reports to States and the State responses thereto that were made public during the year in question. The ECPT's reports are published in the official English and/or French texts and State responses in the English and/or French versions submitted by the States concerned. Bilingual English and French; two-volume set.