courts and about the average amount of compensation that had been offered to them. Clarification was also sought on the matter of government liability in compensation actions. .r 264. With regard to article 15 of the Convention, it was observed that the provisions of that article required that judges must reject statements obtained under torture and not that judges were entitled to reject such statements. 265. In connection with article 16 of the Convention, clarification was sought as to how the provision in the Cameroonian Code of Criminal Investigation that the use of force in the process of arrest, detention or execution of a sentence was a crime was interpreted and applied. 266. In reply to questions of a general nature, the representative of Cameroon stated that although the Convention took precedence over national law, the provisions of the Convention had not been incorporated into the Penal Code and the Constitution because they had been in existence long before the Convention. However, many reforms were under way in his country and the Government was determined to take account of and res~ect the provisions of all the conventions to which Cameroon was a party. The Court of National Security had sole competence to try crimes and offences against the internal and external security of the State, unless such crimes and offences had been committed by minors under the age of 14. Its procedures followed those of a court of first instance. Military courts were competent to try cases of crimes committed by the military in the exercise of their duties. Civilians who were co-perpetrators or accomplices of an act committed by members of the military were not subject to the jurisdiction of the military courts. 257. The President of Cameroon was elected by universal suffrage, as were the deputies to the National Assembly. To date, elections had been held by a closed list system, but a special commission had recently been instructed to study which voting methods might best serve the interests of democracy during the forthcoming mUltiparty elections. The Government could influence court decisions through, for example, the transfer of judges. The Supreme Judicial Council handed down opinions of jUdiciary regulations but de rogations to those regulations could be made by order of the President of the Republic who was free not to take into account the opinions of the Council. However, measures which would guarantee greater independence of the judiciary were currently under study. 258. Replying to concerns raised over the state of emergency situation, the representative referred to constitutional provisions and Act No. 90/047 of 19 December on the state of emergency. Article 2 of that Act, in particular, established that the state of emergency was proclaimed by presidential decree. If the situation which had led to the state of emergency continued to exist, the President of the Republic had to consult the National Assembly. There was no law, outside of a state of emergency, authorizing administrative detention. The President had recently established a commission to propose amendments to the Constitution including the provisions on the state of emergency, in order to reflect the country's recent shift to democracy. 259. With regard to the reports of non-governmental organizations on the human rights situation in Cameroon, the representative indicated that the persons -51Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library ,t I ,]1 : t t