GUIDE ON ANTI-TORTURE LEGISLATION ensuring severe punishment in line with the gravity of the crime, there is no formal standard to follow in terms of the number of years. In 2002, the Committee recommended sentences of between six and twenty years. 58 Since this 2002 recommendation, it seems that the Committee has not set down appropriate penalties or specific ranges although it keeps the approach of reminding States parties that some measures do not suffice or are not in line with the gravity of the crime. The Committee has stated that acts of torture shall incur the heaviest punishments. This statement reinforces the idea that the penalties shall be a matter taken seriously by States, and that at least the minimum parameters raised in the 2002 recommendation shall be respected. States have regularly provided a scale of penalties with heavier penalties when the crime resulted in the death of the victim or in permanent disabilities or when inflicted on a pregnant woman or a child under the age of 18 (in other words, States may impose heavier penalties for aggravated circumstances). 59 60 61 62 The criminal code of Australia foresees a penalty of 20 years for the crime of torture. 59 In the Maldives Act on the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Act, different penalties are provided ranging from 5 years to 25 years depending on the consequence of acts of torture on the victim: 5 years for a victim of torture with a medical treatment of more than 90 days; 10 to 15 years if the victim lost his/her sense of taste or his/her sight, hearing, ability to speak, etc.; 15 to 20 years if torture caused insanity, loss of memory, etc.; 15 to 25 years if the victim was mutilated, raped, etc.; 25 years if the victim was murdered or rape with as a consequence a loss of memory, insanity, etc.60 The General Civil Penal Code of Norway provides that “any person who commits torture shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years. In the case of aggravated and severe torture resulting in death, a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years may be imposed. Any person who aids and abets such an offence shall be liable to the same penalty.”61 In the Panama penal code, the crime of torture bears a penalty of between 5 to 8 years.62 CAT, Summary Report of the 93rd Meeting of the Committee, UN Doc. CAT/C/SR.93 [this document, while cited by scholars for the numerical parameter, is not available in the records of the Committee]. 58 59 Australia Criminal Code Act 1995, op. cit. 35, section 274.2(1) et (2). 60 Maldives, Act on the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture 2013, op. cit. 3, article 23. 61 Norway, the General Civil Penal Code, Act of 22 May 1902 N°10, with subsequent amendments, the latest made by Act of 21 December 2005, No. 31, section 117(a), available at http://app.uio.no/ub/ujur/oversattelover/data/lov-19020522-010-eng.pdf (last accessed in February 2016). 62 Panama, Penal Code adopted by Law 14 of 2007, with subsequent amendments introduced by Law 26 of 2008, Law N°5 of 2009, Law N°68 of 2009 and Law N°14 of 2010, article 156, available at https://www. oas.org/juridico/mla/sp/pan/sp_pan-int-text-cp.pdf (last accessed in February 2016). 21