I. OVERVIEW, RATIFICATION, AND THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE 1. SUMMARY OF THE OVERALL STRUCTURE AND SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS OF THE CONVENTION The Convention against Torture is divided into three parts: As for the substantive content, the core provisions concern criminal enforcement. These require States Parties to ensure that torture, the attempt to commit torture, and complicity in torture are offences under their criminal law and to make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature. States must furthermore prescribe laws to punish torture committed on their territory, as well as by their nationals even outside this territory, and, if appropriate, against their nationals, and in any other situations where they choose not to extradite offenders. They must also detain any alleged torturers in their territory (regardless of the location of the offence) and either submit them to the prosecuting authorities or extradite them. Finally, States are obliged to prevent torture through various means and provide victims with the right to make legal complaints about torture. Article 1 provides a definition of the term “torture” for the purposes of the Convention. Article 2 obliges States Parties to take effective measures of prevention with respect to torture. Article 2 also stipulates that torture cannot be justified under any circumstances (the right of protection against torture is a non-derogable right). The absolute ban on torture extends to situations where it is ordered by a superior officer or public authority. Article 3 prohibits the expulsion of individuals to a State where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture (this principle is also called non-refoulement.) I. OVERVIEW, RATIFICATION, AND THE COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE 1. SUMMARY OF THE OVERALL STRUCTURE AND SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS OF THE CONVENTION • Articles 1 to 16 contain the substantive provisions which States Parties must implement in their national laws. These substantive articles are the primary focus of this Handbook. • Articles 17 to 24 deal mainly with the mandate of the Committee against Torture, which is the treaty monitoring body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Convention by States Parties. • Articles 25 to 33 deal with technical matters relating to the signature or ratification of the Convention, procedure for amendments, reservations by States Parties regarding parts of the Convention, etc. 15