• Romania 339. The Committee considered the initial report of Romania (CAT/C/16/Add.1) at its Illth and 112th meetings, on 1 May 1992 (CAT/C/SR.lll and 112). 340. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party, who referred to the amendments incorporated in the Penal Code and the Code of Penal Procedure, and to the adoption of the new Constitution in December 1991. He said that the work of legislative reform was continuing, particularly with regard to the organization of the judicial system, the execution of penalties and the introduction of new, non-custodial types of penalty. He stated that specialized human rights departments had been set up within various ministries and the Public Prosecutor's Office, together with an interministerial committee responsible for coordination between those departments. He mentioned the activities of non-governmental organizations in the area of human rights; despite those positive changes, however, there were regrettably still some after-effects of the old regime and abuses by state officials. 341. The members of the Committee congratulated the Romanian Government on the quality of its report which, although relatively brref, showed that Romania had indeed adapted its legislation to the Convention. They expressed their satisfaction at finding that Romania had faithfUlly incorporated in its legislation the terms used in the Convention to define torture, and had established appropriate penalties for the offences provided for. By incorporating the Convention in its legislation word for word, Romania had acquired the best possible means of combating torture. . The members of the Committee also expressed their appreciation for the frankness with which the Romanian authorities had acknowledged the continued after-effects of the old regime. In that connection, some members of the Committee emphasized that attitudes still had to be changed, particularly with regard to conditions of detention and among the police, and stated that they had received reports of a number of individual cases of ill-treatment. Members of the Committee requested further information of a general nature, in particular on the organization of the judicial system and the court hierarchy in Romania, on the competence of the military courts, on the status of the jUdiciary and the appointment and dismissal of judges and prosecutors, on relations between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary in accordance with the provisions of the new Constitution, on the role of the People's Advocate, and on the organization and powers of the police forces. Clarification was also sought concerning the procedure which had led to the dismissal of several thousand policemen and a number of prosecutors or judges, and the amnesty granted to former political prisoners. Statistical information was requested on specific cases of torture and other ill-treatment. 342. In connection with article 3 of the Convention, members of the Committee requested clarification concerning the possibility of appealing against an expulsion order or being granted a stay of execution. 343. With regard to article 5 of the Convention, members of the Committee requested details concerning the application of the principle of universal competence in Romanian law. It was noted in particular that, given the fact that articles 5 and 6 of the Penal Code were in conformity with the -63- Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library