duration of pre-trial detention; and what control was exercised over the conduct of investigations by the police. 138. With regard to article 13 of the Convention, members wished to know what machinery existed for making petitions, and requested specific examples of the outcome for those who had availed themselves of that right. 139. Concerning article 14 of the Convention, members noted that full rehabilitation of victims of torture should include medical rehabilitation and that a rehabilitation centre for victims of torture had recently been set up in Prague which, it was hoped, would receive the Government's support. I 140. In his reply, the representative of the State party stated that he would transmit to the competent authorities of his country the suggestion that a definition of torture in conformity with that contained in article 1 of the Convention should be introduced into domestic law. He pointed out that now was an appropriate time to do so as a completely new penal code and code of penal procedure were being prepared. As those codes were still in the drafting stage, it was difficult to give an answer to questions relating to the application of particular articles of the Convention. However, with regard to article 4 of the Convention, the representative i.nformed the Committee that an official guilty of assault in the exercise of his duties was liable to imprisonment from two to eight years, in accordance with article 222 of the Penal Code. Legal proceedings were under way in connection with 40 cases of torture or inhuman treatment in prisons that had occurred before 1989. In connection with the events of November 1989, 35 police officers has been charged with assault. 141. With regard to the independence of the judiciary, he stated that under the legislation adopted in 1991, judges were appointed for life by parliament and could be dismissed only for disciplinary reasons. 142. In connection with article 2 of the Convention, the representative said that a police officer who refused to obey an order from a superior was required to give his reasons for doing so in a written report, which was considered by a disciplinary board or by the prosecutor. 143. Referring to article 10 of the Convention, the representative agreed that it was desirable that the supervisory and medical staff of prisons should be more familiar with the Convention and indicated that that issue was one of the authorities' concerns. 144. With regard to article 11 of the Convention, the representative said that the maximum duration of custody was 24 hours and that the police were required to inform the family of the person arrested that he was in custody. In addition, detainees could have contact with priests, representatives of humanitarian organizations or their lawyers without the presence of a third person. A detainee could only be isolated if his fitness to withstand isolation had been confirmed by a medical examination. The present maximum length of pre-trial of two months was too long and the new rules on the execution of sentences, now under consideration, would guarantee conditions of detention in conformity with international instruments. -29Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library