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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 5 Nov 2002

Vol. 556 No. 3

Written Answers. - United Nations Conventions.

John Bruton

Ceist:

310 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the Government will ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; if the legislation at domestic level has been put in place since 24 November 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19922/02]

Dáil Éireann approved the terms of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 27 March 2002. The convention was ratified by Ireland on 11 April 2002 and entered into force in Ireland 30 days later on 11 May 2002. A copy of the convention is in the Oireachtas Library.

The necessary domestic legislation to enable the Ireland to ratify the convention – the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention Against Torture) Act, 2000 – was signed into law by the President on 14 June 2000. The Act creates a specific statutory offence of torture with a penalty of up to life imprisonment and allows a person to be tried here, or to be extradited from here, in relation to the commission of the offence anywhere in the world. It also prohibits the extradition or expulsion of a person from the State where there are substantial grounds for believing that if the extradition or expulsion were to take place, the person may be subjected to torture.

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