A/HRC/32/8 7. The Minister stated that human rights were effectively promoted and protected in Belgium, through the existing legislative framework and through its strict implementation. Belgium attached great importance to these universal international standards and made a determined effort to implement them. That also explained why Belgium was among the limited group of countries that were never late in submitting their periodic reports to United Nations treaty bodies. 8. Belgium had acceded to most of the international human rights conventions. Since the last universal periodic review, Belgium had acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2011 and in 2014 to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. The ratification procedures for the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence had been completed and Belgium would shortly be formally depositing its instrument of ratification with the Council of Europe. 9. The Minister continued his statement by stressing that the fight against all forms of discrimination was a central concern of Belgium. The Government therefore took its commitments to gender equality very seriously. The issue was the focus of special attention at all levels of government. Various laws had been adopted with the aim of improving the representation of women in professional and political life. Progress made in that regard had been encouraging. Particular attention had also been paid to combating sexism and promoting equality through education. Belgium had also adopted a new ambitious and comprehensive national plan to combat gender-based violence for the period of 2015-2019. 10. Regarding the combat against racism and xenophobia, legislative and legal instruments had been amended so as to better detect and punish discrimination and violence based on racial hatred. The training component — whether for the police or for teachers — had not been forgotten. Combating specific discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons had also received particular attention, with a focus on both prevention and protection. In line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Belgium had established a new legal protection status based on the autonomy of persons with disabilities. The new law on legal capacity, which had entered into force on 1 September 2014, provided that a person shall be considered capable, unless expressly deemed incapable of certain acts by the justice of the peace. The new system was based on the individual needs of the person requiring protection. Measures had also been taken to prevent the placement in prison of persons who required psychiatric confinement. The opening of a new centre of forensic psychiatry and establishment of long-term residence units for detainees in psychiatric institutions had led to a substantial reduction in the number of persons requiring psychiatric confinement that were held in prisons. Projects aimed at optimal social integration were ongoing. 11. In the area of justice, Belgium had launched a series of initiatives aimed at reducing prison overcrowding. It had thus invested in new institutions and had renovated existing structures. It had also taken measures to strengthen alternative penalties to imprisonment. The results of these measures had been encouraging and had helped to reduce prison overcrowding from 25 per cent to 8 per cent. 12. The Minister also referred to the adoption in 2011 of the Act amending the Code of Criminal Procedure (the “Salduz” Act), which set forth several important new rights, including the right to consult privately with a lawyer before being questioned and the right of persons deprived of their liberty to be assisted by a lawyer during hearings and interrogations. Significant efforts had been made to ensure that judicial proceedings were of a reasonable length. Moreover, a compensation procedure was available in the event of excessively long criminal proceedings. 4 GE.16-05884