E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.2 page 8 (a) First, by doing away with both the causes (emergency legislation and justice) and the effects (arbitrary detention) of the violations that had been brought to the Working Group’s attention; (b) Second, to prevent a recurrence of the violations, by backing up with substantive reforms, both institutional (the National Charter for action and its objectives) and legal (various repeals and reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure), the development of the rule of law that had begun with the proclamation of independence in 1971 but been interrupted between 1975 and 1999. On succeeding his father, who died in March 1999, to the throne, the Amir, H. H. Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, instituted important changes as part of a transitional process that, to the surprise of many observers, took account of some of the concerns shared by broad sectors of civil society, human rights issues among them. 15. This transitional period – the first, medium-term stage in a process expected to culminate by 2004 in the election of a new National Assembly – was called for in a National Charter submitted to referendum and approved, on 15 February 2001, by 98.4 per cent of the votes in a poll whose fairness was not contested. This pact of popular sovereignty gave the Charter a legitimacy that all three branches of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, will have to take into account pending the adoption of constitutional and, before them, institutional and legislative reforms. A. Institutional reforms 16. A Constitutional Amendment Committee has been set up to consider what amendments should be made to the current Constitution – partly suspended since 1975 – in view of the four guiding principles laid down in the Charter: (a) Transformation of the State of Bahrain into the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Amir taking the title of King and the regime becoming a constitutional monarchy (Charter, chap. II-A); (b) Introduction of a mixed two-house system comprising a decision-making legislative organ made up, for the most part, of members elected in a nation-wide ballot, and responsible for passing laws (the Chamber of Deputies), and a consultative body, the Shura (Consultative) Council, composed of unelected dignitaries and experts, whose function is to give opinions as required (Charter, chap. V). The Shura Council, which is already sitting, has elected from among its members for a four-year term a Human Rights Committee, whose powers the delegation feels it necessary to describe in more detail: The Human Rights Committee At a hearing which it granted the delegation, the Committee defined its role as being to consider the texts of bills and other legislation relating to human rights; to cooperate with the authorities concerned with human rights issues; to monitor the progress of human rights issues; to take part in any national or international studies, research and seminars on human rights; to cooperate with national human rights institutions throughout the world, especially in Gulf Cooperation Council countries; to represent Bahrain on the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on the Human Rights of