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is the national independent mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Germany. The National Agency is the blanket agency of the Federal Agency for the Prevention of Torture and the Joint Commission of the States (Länder). Its creation is based on the Optional Protocol of 2002 to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment dated 10 December 1984.

The National Agency will undertake regular visits to places where people are deprived of their liberty, identify problems and make recommendations to the relevant authorities. Furthermore, it will report annually to the parliaments and governments, both at the federal and the states' level.

Only places under federal jurisdiction i.e. Federal Police (Bundespolizei),  Federal German Defence Forces (Bundeswehr) and the Customs fall under the mandate of the Federal Agency.

Other institutions such as police stations, psychiatric hospitals and prisons lie within the jurisdiction of the Joint Commission.

The National Agency's administration is an annex to the Centre for Criminology (KrimZ) located in Wiesbaden.

The National Agency for the Prevention of Torture is not an individual complaints mechanism, nor will legal advise be given.

The honorary director of the Federal Agency is Klaus Lange-Lehngut, former governor of the Berlin-Tegel Prison.

The members of the Länder Commission for the Prevention of Torture were officially nominated on 23 and 24 June 2010 in Hamburg during the 81st Conference of Ministers of Justice of the States. The members are:

Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Geiger, former State Secretary (chairman)
The Honorable Albrecht Rieß, Presiding judge, Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr. Dieter Rössner, Professor for Penal Law and Criminology
Ms. Elsava Schöner, Psychologist and former prison governor