CAT/C/LIE/CO/4
special treatment in cases of spousal rape and establishing spousal rape as an offence
requiring public prosecution that does not require the victim’s consent;
(c)
The revision of the Criminal Code introducing the explicit codification of the
offence of female genital mutilation;
(d)
The revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure to strengthen the rights of
victims of domestic violence in criminal procedures, in 2012;
(e)
The revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure expressly stipulating that
every suspect and accused person may consult a lawyer prior to every occurrence of
questioning, including by the police, and that the lawyer may attend the questioning, which
entered into force on 1 October 2012;
(f)
The replacement of the Refugee Act by the new Liechtenstein Asylum Act,
which explicitly recognizes gender-specific grounds for granting refugee status and
explicitly mentions torture as a ground for non-refoulement, which entered into force on 1
June 2012;
(g)
The amendment of the Civic Rights Act concerning the right of convicted
persons to vote, which entered into force on 1 December 2012.
7.
The Committee also welcomes the initiatives of the State party to amend its policies,
programmes and administrative measures to give effect to the Convention, including the
establishment by the Liechtenstein Chamber of Lawyers of the legal on-call service with an
number that can be used by suspects to exercise their right to contact a defence lawyer even
outside regular office hours, as of 1 December 2012.
8.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the ratification by the State party of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography, on 30 January 2013.
9.
The Committee also notes with satisfaction that the State party has supported the
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture since 2008; that it supports
specialized civil society work in the area of torture prevention and promotes the ratification
of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and the setting up of national
preventive mechanisms in Latin American countries; and that it has extended and will
maintain a permanent invitation to all special procedures of the Human Rights Council.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition of torture and statute of limitations
10.
While noting that a working group is currently discussing the definition of torture
and the statute of limitations relating to it and will report to the Government in June 2016,
the Committee is concerned at the absence in the Criminal Code of a distinct crime of
torture based on the definition in article 1 of the Convention and the continued existence of
a statute of limitations with respect to offences that would amount to torture (arts. 1 and 4).
11.
The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party
should incorporate into its domestic criminal law a distinct crime of torture in
conformity with article 1 of the Convention and ensure that offences that amount to
acts of torture carry penalties commensurate with the gravity of this crime. The State
party should also ensure that in the next revision of the Criminal Code acts amounting
to torture are not subject to any statute of limitations. The Committee draws the State
party’s attention to paragraph 11 of its general comment No. 2 (2007) on the
implementation of article 2 by States parties, which underscores the preventive effect
of having the crime of torture defined as an offence in its own right.
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