20 years of combating torture: CPT General Report 2008-2009 104. Given the challenging and specialised nature of the CPT’s activities, it is of paramount importance that the Committee continues to have a highly qualified membership in terms of relevant professional expertise and empirical experience. The effectiveness of the CPT will ultimately depend on the quality of its members. The CPT is most grateful to the Sub-Committee on Human Rights and the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly for the rigour with which they are examining lists of candidates for seats in the Committee. Of course, it is also essential that the selection procedures at national level ensure that the persons best qualified to be elected as a CPT member are placed on the list of candidates forwarded to the Assembly. On this point, the CPT fully supports the position adopted by the Assembly in Resolution 1540 (2007) on improving selection procedures for CPT members, according to which national selection procedures should include public calls for candidatures, consultation on candidates with both State and non-governmental bodies, and interviews with shortlisted candidates (possibly by an independent panel of experts). A procedure meeting these requirements does exist already in some States which are Parties to the ECPT; the Committee trusts that steps will be taken in all the States concerned to introduce a procedure of this kind. 105. The number of women among the CPT’s membership stands at 18 out of 45. Consequently, applying the “less-than-40%” criterion used by the Parliamentary Assembly in Resolution 1540, neither sex is currently under-represented in the Committee. The CPT trusts that lists of candidates will continue to include suitablyqualified candidates of both sexes. However, as the Committee stressed in its 17th General Report, the question of gender should not predominate over that of qualification. As for the spread of professional experience within the CPT’s membership, the Committee still requires more members with first-hand knowledge of the work of law enforcement agencies, as well as more medical members with relevant forensic skills (in particular as regards the observing and recording of physical injuries). 48