CAT/C/NOR/CO/8
(d)
The inclusion of domestic violence as a separate factor in the amendments to
the Patient and User Rights Act, on 1 November 2015;
(e)
The amendments to the Mental Health Care Act extending the right of
patients with psychosocial disabilities to make decisions concerning their own health, and
providing them with five hours of free legal aid regarding complaints about treatment
carried out without their consent, in 2017.
5.
The Committee further welcomes the initiatives of the State party to amend its
policies, programmes and administrative measures to give effect to the Convention,
including:
(a)
The establishment of a new national human rights institution through Act No.
33 on the National Human Rights Institution of Norway, on 22 May 2015;
(b)
The designation of the Parliamentary Ombudsman as the national preventive
mechanism against torture and inhuman treatment under the Optional Protocol to the
Convention and the creation of an autonomous mechanism in the Ombudsman’s Office, in
June 2013;
(c)
The presentation of a white paper on violence against women and domestic
violence after the adoption of a new national action plan with 45 measures for the period
between 2014 and 2017, in March 2013, the launch of a five-year research programme on
domestic violence and the establishment of a new funding scheme for measures to prevent
and combat domestic violence by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, in 2014;
(d)
The launch by the Government of a new action plan regarding violence
against children entitled “A good childhood lasts a lifetime”, comprising 43 measures, in
November 2015; and of a new plan by the Parliament to combat domestic violence and
strengthen the care of children exposed to violence and sexual abuse, in October 2016;
(e)
The launch by the Government of a new web portal on domestic violence and
rape, and the publication by the Director General of Public Prosecutions of the report on the
quality of police investigations in rape cases, in 2016;
(f)
The appointment by the Government of an official legislative committee to
conduct an overall review of the regulation of coercion in health and care services,
including electroconvulsive therapy, in the light of the State party’s international human
rights obligations, in June 2016.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Pending follow-up issues from the previous reporting cycle
6.
In paragraph 28 of its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/NOR/CO/6-7), the
Committee requested Norway to provide further information regarding areas of particular
concern identified by the Committee in paragraph 11 on solitary confinement; in paragraph
15 on the detention of foreigners; in paragraph 16 on the legal safeguards afforded to
asylum seekers and foreign nationals pending expulsion; and in paragraph 22 on
unaccompanied minors missing from asylum centres. The Committee expresses its
appreciation for the State party’s follow-up response on those matters and the substantive
information provided on 22 November 2013 (CAT/C/NOR/CO/6-7/Add.1). In view of that
information, the Committee considers that the recommendations included in paragraphs 11,
15, 16 and 22 mentioned above have been partially implemented (see paras. 17, 18, 25, 26,
27 and 28).
Definition of torture
7.
The Committee remains concerned that the definition of torture in the Penal Code is
not in full compliance with article 1 of the Convention since it does not include a reference
to “discrimination of any kind”, but continues to enumerate acts based on some specific
forms of discrimination (art. 1).
2