A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 65. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (para. 79). Brunei Darussalam (a) JAL 25/09/2014 Case No. BRN 1/2014 State Reply: 13/11/2014 and 11/03/2015 Allegations concerning an Order relating to laws in respect of shari’a crimes and any matter connected therewith, which is cited as the Syariah [shari’a] Penal Code Order, 2013 (SPC). 66. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Brunei for its replies, dated 13 November 2014 and 11 March 2015, to the present communication. The Rapporteur welcomes the Government’s intention to sign the UN Convention Against Torture. In spite of the information supplied by the Government, its reply fails to inform the Rapporteur about the use of death penalty for offences that do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” or for blasphemy, witchcraft, and apostasy; the use of corporal punishment such as amputation and public flogging and stoning as a method of execution. For purposes of the imposition of capital punishment in retentionist States, the notion of “most serious crimes” means offenses committed with intent to kill and that actually result in death. 67. The Special Rapporteur recalls the report presented to the 60th session of the General Assembly, in which his predecessor, with reference to the jurisprudence of UN treaty bodies, concluded that any form of corporal punishment is contrary to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. He also noted that “States cannot invoke provisions of domestic law to justify the violation of their human rights obligations under international law, including the prohibition of corporal punishment,” and called upon States to abolish all forms of judicial and administrative corporal punishment without delay (A/60/316, para. 28). The Rapporteur wishes to stress that corporal punishment of any sort including of children is always torture in violation of international law, even if judicially imposed. 68. Furthermore, in the 67th session of the General Assembly (A/67/279) the Special Rapporteur referred to the jurisprudence of regional human rights bodies and national judiciaries to conclude that there is no doubt that death by stoning constitutes torture and is, beyond dispute, a violation of the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (para. 31). 69. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). 5, The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; paragraph 79 of the Special Rapporteur’s interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268). 17