GUIDE ON ANTI-TORTURE LEGISLATION 2. The provisions of this Convention are without prejudice to the provisions of any other international instrument or national law which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or which relates to extradition or expulsion. 1. The Convention requires States parties to criminalise torture as a separate and specific crime The requirement that a State criminalise the act of torture is a basic obligation under the Convention. Under article 4 of the Convention, every State party “shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law”. This article is understood to oblige State parties to criminalise torture as a specific crime, separate from other types of offences found in criminal law. In its General Comment N°2, the Committee against Torture emphasised that torture must be made a distinct crime as this will “directly advance the Convention’s overarching aim”. 2 3 4 5 Many States have adopted a separate and specific crime of torture in their national legislation. Examples of those States will be given under section 2 below on the definition of torture. Here, the Philippines and the Maldives have clearly stated in their national legislation that the crime of torture shall be considered a criminal offence separate from other crimes. 3 Article 3(a) of Maldives’ Act on the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture also specifies that torture shall be considered a separate criminal offence.4 Section 15 of the Philippines’ Anti-Torture Act provides specifically that “torture as a crime shall not absorb or shall not be absorbed by any other crime or felony committed as a consequence, or as a means in the conduct or commission thereof. In which case, torture shall be treated as a separate and independent criminal act whose penalties shall be imposable without prejudice to any other criminal liability provided for by domestic and international laws.”5 2. The Convention requires States parties to define torture in a manner that, at a minimum, adopts all the elements of article 1 of the Convention The first step in understanding how a State can best draft anti-torture legislation is by clarifying the definition of torture under the Convention. The Committee clearly requires domestic legislation to follow, at a minimum, the definition contained in article 1 of the UNCAT. The Committee recommends in almost every 12 2 CAT, General Comment N°2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties (24 January 2008) UN Doc. CAT/C/GC/2, § 11. 3 All of the examples given in this guide are from a country with a separate crime of torture. Examples include: the Philippines, the Maldives; Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, Morocco, New Zealand, Madagascar, South Africa, Uganda, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador, Norway, Sri Lanka and Germany. 4 Maldives, Act on the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture 2013, Law 13/2013 (23 December 2013), Law 13/2013, article 11, available at http://mvlaw.gov.mv/pdf/ganoon/chapterVIII/13-2013.pdf (last accessed in February 2016). 5 Philippines’ Anti-Torture Act of 2009, Republic Act N°9745 (10 November 2009), section 15, available at http://www.congress.gov.ph/download/ra_14/RA09745.pdf (last accessed February 2016).