38. China (1) The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of China (CAT/C/CHN/4) at its 844th and 846th meetings, held on 7 and 10 November 2008 (CAT/C/SR.844 and 846), and adopted, at its 864th meeting, on 21 November 2008 (CAT/C/SR.864), the concluding observations as set out below. A. Introduction (2) The Committee welcomes the fourth periodic report of China, which, while generally following the Committee’s guidelines for reporting, lacks adequate statistical data and practical information on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. (3) The Committee notes with appreciation the extensive written response provided to the list of issues (CAT/C/CHN/Q/4). The Committee also appreciates the size and diverse expertise of the State party delegation, the comprehensive detailed responses to many oral questions and the additional information provided by representatives of the State party to questions raised during the consideration of the report. B. Positive aspects (4) The Committee welcomes the ongoing reform of the State party’s legal framework with the adoption of the following acts: (a) The 2001 Marriage Law explicitly prohibiting domestic violence; (b) The 2007 amended Law on Lawyers, guaranteeing lawyers’ right to meet with criminal suspects; (c) The 2005 Law on Administrative Punishments for Public Order and Security, which requires inter alia that security organs shall adhere to principles of respect for human rights guarantees and which, in particular, according to the Representative of the State party, “has, for the first time established in national law the exclusion rule of illegal evidence”. (5) The Committee appreciates the promulgation of the following new regulations: (a) The amendment, since 2005, of the Procedural Provisions for the Handling of Administrative Cases by Public Security Organs and the Procedural Provisions for the Handling of Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs; (b) Issuance by the Ministry of Justice (14 February 2006) of “Six prohibitions on people’s prison police” and “Six prohibitions for RTL guards”; and by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (26 July 2006) of “Regulations on filing cases standard on infringing rights by dereliction of duty”, focused on preventing abuses in detention and investigating abuses; (c) Reforms of the death penalty system aimed at creating a system of review that could ensure that wrongful convictions are overturned before executions are carried out; (d) The prohibition of corporal punishment of children in schools and judicial processes. (6) The Committee welcomes the ongoing efforts made by the State party to combat torture practices, including the adoption of administrative regulations prohibiting the use of torture to obtain confessions, the provision of nationwide training of the police and the introduction of audio and video recording in interrogation rooms, notwithstanding the lack of adequate methods of enforcement for the administrative regulations and the lack of changes to criminal or criminal procedure laws. 17