CAT/C/LVA/CO/3-5
(b)
Entry into force of the new Asylum Law on 14 July 2009;
(c)
Amendments to the Law on the Procedures for the Coming into Force and
Application of the Criminal Law supplementing the law with article 24 on the definition of
torture, on 23 December 2009;
(d)
Entry into force of the Law on Patients’ Rights, which protects the rights of
juveniles in particular and provides for a patient’s right to claim compensation, on 1 March
2010;
(e)
Amendments to the Law on Medical Treatment concerning the actions of
medical institutions if patients have been subjected to violence, which entered into force on
1 January 2011;
(f)
Amendments to the Law on Enforcement of Sentences concerning the
resocialization of prisoners, introduced on 8 August 2011;
(g)
Abolition of the death penalty from the Criminal Law, on 1 December 2011.
6.
The Committee also welcomes the efforts of the State party to amend its policies,
programmes and administrative measures to give effect to the Convention, including:
(a)
Adoption of the basic guidelines on the improvement of the mental health of
the population for 2009–2014, on 6 August 2008;
(b)
Adoption by the Government of the concept on resocialization of convicted
persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty, on 9 January 2009;
(c)
Adoption of the basic policy guidelines for the enforcement of prison
sentences and detention of juveniles for 2007–2013, on 2 March 2010;
(d)
Adoption by the Cabinet of Ministers of the regulation setting out the
procedure for providing community service as an alternative to imprisonment, including in
the case of minors, on 9 February and 3 August 2010;
(e)
Publication by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs of a
commentary to the Asylum Law, with a view to improving the quality of the asylum
procedure, January 2010.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition of torture
7.
While taking note of the amendments to the Law on the Procedures for the Coming
into Force and Application of the Criminal Law, supplementing the law with article 24
which defines torture, and recalling its previous concluding observations
(CAT/C/LVA/CO/2, para. 5), the Committee is concerned that the definition of torture does
not reflect all of the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention, which may create
loopholes for impunity, as outlined in general comment No. 2 (2007) on implementation of
article 2 by States parties (art. 1).
The State party should amend its legislation to include a definition of torture in
conformity with the Convention, which covers all the elements contained in article 1,
including the inflicting of torture on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him
or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third
person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or
coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,
when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent
or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.
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