A/67/44 the frankness of the report, which acknowledges shortcomings in the State party’s implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”). The Committee regrets, however, that the report was submitted seven years late. The Committee welcomes the very frank dialogue it held with the delegation of the State party on numerous areas covered by the Convention. B. Positive aspects (3) The Committee notes with satisfaction the State party’s ratification of the following international instruments: (a) The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in (b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 2002; 2002; (c) The two Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 2002; (d) The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in 2011; (e) The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in 2002. (4) The Committee welcomes the fact that, under the provisions of article 37 of the Constitution, international treaties ratified by the State party, including the Convention, take precedence over the State party’s domestic laws and may be applied directly in domestic judicial proceedings. (5) The Committee welcomes the establishment in August 2011 of the Legal and Judicial Reform Commission, which is responsible for updating legislation and bringing it into line with the obligations deriving from the international human rights treaties ratified by the State party, including the Convention. (6) The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party abolished the death penalty in 1995. (7) The Committee notes with appreciation that the State party has been able to prepare and submit its reports to the United Nations treaty bodies thanks to the Inter-ministerial Coordinating Committee for the Preparation and Submission of Reports to the Treaty Bodies, with technical support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets that these reports have been submitted with some delay. C. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations Definition and criminalization of torture (8) The Committee notes that article 16 of Djibouti’s Constitution prohibits torture, physical abuse or inhuman, cruel, degrading or humiliating treatment. The Committee takes note of the State party’s commitment to amend its domestic law in the light of its obligations deriving from the international human rights conventions it has ratified, introducing, inter alia, a definition of torture. Nevertheless, the Committee remains concerned about the absence of any clear definition of torture in the State party’s current Criminal Code and of any provisions criminalizing acts of torture in accordance with articles 1 and 4 of the Convention (arts. 1 and 4). The State party should include torture in its Criminal Code as an offence punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account the gravity of the acts committed, together with a definition of torture that includes all the elements mentioned in article GE.12-44492 35