The obligation in §1 was not extended to include a specific, separate offence in national criminal law which corresponds exactly to the definition of torture laid down in Article 1 of the Convention.104 However, States Parties which do not define torture or do not recognise the offence of torture in national law are confronted with the problem of the classification of a crime over which they need to establish jurisdiction, and on the grounds of which they can institute prosecutions of persons who have perpetrated torture elsewhere. For this reason, in its consideration of initial and periodic reports from States Parties, the CAT frequently includes in its list of recommendations that “a definition of torture in conformity with the definition appearing in Article 1 of the Convention” be inserted into domestic law as a separate type of crime.105 In its more recent reports, the CAT has deemed the inclusion of torture as an offence defined at least as precisely as Article 1 of the Convention definition to be a requirement of the Convention.106 In other words, while it would not seem that the CAT’s explicit opinion is that the Convention definition of torture should be reproduced exactly in national criminal legislation, States Parties must include a definition of torture which covers the Convention definition and make it punishable in national legislation.107 II. INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS OF ARTICLES 1–16 OF THE CONVENTION 2. ANALYSIS OF SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS §2. The punishment for torture provided for under the domestic law of a State Party must not be trivial or disproportionate, but must take into account the grave nature of the offence. This means that torture must be punishable by severe penalties.108 36 The Convention provides no direction as to the expected length of sentences. However, this must be calculated in the same way as other serious offences under national law, for example, offences which seriously threaten human health or life, such as murder.109 This is to say that penalties must be in proportion to the grave nature of the crime, but also in proportion to other penalties imposed under national legislation for similar crimes.110 Some commentators have stressed that the Convention, being a human rights instrument, should not be invoked as justification for the application of the death penalty.111 Members of the CAT have made it clear that very short sentences, from several days to two years, were insufficient.112 Members have expressed the opinion that torture should receive the heaviest sentence of all crimes.113 Although the CAT as a whole has not commented on the appropriate level of sentence for torture, it is, according to one commentator, possible on the basis of the individual opinions of members to establish a range within which such sentences should fall: The penalty for the offence of torture should be a custodial sentence of between six and twenty years.114 Victims of torture should also have the possibility to pursue a monetary claim for damages (see Article 14).