- 10 II. ORGANISATIONAL AND LEGAL ISSUES a. Signatures and ratifications of the Convention 21. The number of Parties to the Convention remained stable during 1992, at twenty-three. The Convention was signed by Czechoslovakia on 23 December 1992, shortly before that State ceased to exist5. The question of whether that signature will have any effect vis-à-vis the newly-formed Czech and Slovak Republics, in the event of their becoming Members of the Council of Europe (both Republics have applied for membership of the Organisation), remains to be clarified. b. CPT membership 22. Four new members of the CPT were elected by the Committee of Ministers during 1992: Mr Jón Bjarman in respect of Iceland, Mr Arnold Oehry (Liechtenstein), Mrs Nora Staels-Dompas (Belgium) and Mr José Vieira Mesquita (Portugal). At the end of 1992 the CPT had 22 members, the seat in respect of San Marino remaining vacant (see Appendix 2A for the full list of members)6. 23. In its 2nd General Report, the CPT emphasised the importance of increasing the number of members who possess specialist practical knowledge of penitentiary systems or are medical doctors with relevant experience (cf. CPT/Inf (92) 3, paragraphs 26 and 27). The CPT is grateful to the Committee of Ministers for the action subsequently taken by it in relation to this matter. 24. Another issue raised in the CPT's 2nd General Report was that of the expiry dates of members' terms of office (cf. CPT/Inf (92) 3, paragraph 16). The Committee is again grateful to the Committee of Ministers for having requested the Steering Committee for Human Rights to look into the question of the advisability of placing each member of the CPT in one of two groups, with a view to ensuring an orderly renewal of one half of the Committee's membership every two years. 5 Further, the Convention was signed by Hungary on 9 February 1993 (cf. Appendix 1 for the state of signatures and ratifications of the Convention). 6 On 3 May 1993, Mr Léopoldo Torres Boursault was elected as the member of the CPT in respect of Spain, following the resignation of Mr José Maria Mohedano on 15 February 1993.