GUIDE ON ANTI-TORTURE LEGISLATION Lawful sanctions are acts considered legal under a State’s law and international standards. Today, it is resolved that this permission exclusion refers to sanctions that are considered lawful as determined by both national and international standards, and should be interpreted narrowly.17 A narrow interpretation of lawful sanctions protects persons at risk of torture and ill-treatment by ensuring that detainees are only subjected to punishments as legitimate exercises of State authority. 18 19 20 21 22 23 When domesticating the crime of torture, many States have decided to incorporate the definition contained in article 1 of the Convention, with some slight modifications. Examples include: The penal code of Bosnia-Herzegovina also criminalises and defines torture, using the elements of the Article 1 definition.18 Canada has explicitly added in its criminal code that “torture means any act or omission by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person (a) for a purpose including (i) obtaining from the person or from a third person information or a statement, (ii) punishing the person for an act that the person or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, and (iii) intimidating or coercing the person or a third person, or (b) for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, but does not include any act or omission arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.” 19 In Colombia, the criminal code also criminalises torture and the definition used is similar to the Article 1 definition. 20 In Ireland, the Criminal Justice Act criminalises torture as follows: “Torture means an act or omission by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person (a) for such purposes as (i) obtaining from that person, or from another person, information or a confession, (ii) punishing that person for an act which the person concerned or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or (iii) intimidating or coercing that person or a third person, or (b) for any reason that is based on any form of discrimination, but does not include any such act that arises solely from, or is inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.”21 Luxembourg in article 260-1 of the criminal code based its torture definition on the Convention against Torture. 22 Madagascar in article 2 of the anti-torture law against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment used the definition of torture contained in article 1 of the Convention verbatim. 23 Rodley and Pollard, op. cit. 10, pp. 120 and 121; Association for the Prevention of Torture, The Definition of Torture: Proceedings of an Expert Seminar (Geneva, 10–11 November 2001), p. 28. 17 18 Bosnia-Herzegovina, Penal Code of 2003, as last amended in 2015, article 190, available at http://www. legislationline.org/documents/section/criminal-codes/country/40 (last accessed February 2016). 19 Canada Criminal Code, R.S., c. C-34, s.1, article 269.1(2), available at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/ acts/C-46/ (last accessed February 2016). 20 Colombia, Penal Code of 2000, Law 599 of 2000, article 178, available at http://www.oas.org/dil/esp/ Codigo_Penal_Colombia.pdf (last accessed February 2000). 21 Ireland, Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act of 2000 (Act N°11, 2000), section 1, available at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000/act/11/enacted/en/print.html (last accessed February 2016). 22 Luxembourg criminal code 1879, as amended by Law of 24 April 2000, article 260-1, available at http://www.legilux.public.lu/leg/textescoordonnes/codes/code_penal/codepenal.pdf (last accessed in February 2016). 23 Madagascar, Loi N°2008-008 du 25 juin 2008 contre la torture et autres peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dégradants, chapitre 1, article 2, available at https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ MONOGRAPH/89308/102562/F1528680668/MDG-89308.pdf (last accessed February 2016). 15