CAT/C/62/D/672/2015 confinement in excess of 15 consecutive days constitutes a violation of article 16. According to the complainant, the time he spent in confinement was damaging to his mental health.11 5.4 The complainant asks the Committee to find that his rights under articles 14 and 16 of the Convention were violated and to request the State party to provide him with adequate compensation and to repeal the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Act. He calls on the Committee to find that the State party’s reservation to article 14 of the Convention is incompatible with the Convention. Issues and proceedings before the Committee Consideration of admissibility 6.1 Before considering any complaint submitted in a communication, the Committee must decide whether it is admissible under article 22 of the Convention. The Committee has ascertained, as it is required to do under article 22 (5) (a) of the Convention, that the same matter has not been and is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement. 6.2 The Committee recalls that, in accordance with article 22 (5) (b) of the Convention, it shall not consider any communication from an individual unless it has ascertained that the individual has exhausted all available domestic remedies. The Committee notes that, in the present case, the State party has not contested that the complainant has exhausted all available domestic remedies. The Committee therefore finds that it is not precluded from considering the communication under article 22 (5) (b) of the Convention. 6.3 The Committee notes the State party’s submission that the complainant’s claim under article 14 of the Convention should be found inadmissible because of the State party’s reservation to article 14. The Committee also notes the complainant’s submission that the State party’s reservation to article 14 is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention.12 The reservation entered by New Zealand to article 14, however, specifies that the authority responsible for awarding the compensation to torture victims referred to in article 14 of the Convention is the Attorney-General. Accordingly, the reservation does not apply to the subject matter of the complaint under review, and the Committee is not precluded from considering the complainant’s claim under article 14 of the Convention. 6.4 As the Committee finds no further obstacles to admissibility, it declares the communication submitted under articles 14 and 16 of the Convention admissible and proceeds with its consideration of the merits. Consideration of the merits 7.1 The Committee has considered the present communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties concerned, in accordance with article 22 (4) of the Convention. 7.2 In the present case, the first issue before the Committee is whether holding the complainant in solitary confinement for 21 days amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and thus constituted a violation of article 16 of the Convention. The Committee is of the view that solitary confinement may amount to a violation of article 16, depending on the circumstances of the case and taking into account the particular conditions of solitary confinement, the stringency of the measure, its duration, the objective pursued and its effect on the person concerned. 13 The Committee recalls its 11 12 13 The complainant refers to his affidavit before the domestic courts, in which he stated that, when he emerged from solitary confinement, the hair in his nostrils and his whiskers had turned white and grey and that, when friends of his who had not seen him while he had been in solitary saw him, they had asked what had happened, as it was obvious that he looked different. He also stated in the affidavit that solitary confinement had not been mentally healthy for him and that, when he had been let out, he had found himself slightly madder than before. See CAT/C/NZL/CO/6, para. 20; and CAT/C/NZL/CO/5, para. 14. See A.A. v. Denmark (CAT/C/49/D/412/2010), para. 7.4. 7