A/HRC/21/29 countries with regard to the mandatory imposition of the death penalty and the procedural aspects of its implementation. 7. In some States, constitutional debates and reform processes addressed the question of the death penalty. The Republika Srpska introduced an amendment for the removal of provision for the death penalty in its Constitution.2 The Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, which came into force on 9 July 2011, provides for the inherent right to life, dignity and the integrity of his or her person which shall be protected by law. Furthermore, article 21 of the Transitional Constitution places a restriction on the death penalty, providing that “no death penalty shall be imposed, save as punishment for extremely serious offences in accordance with the law”. It also precludes the imposition of the death sentence on a person under 18 or a person who has attained the age of 70. It further states that “no death penalty shall be executed upon a pregnant and lactating woman save after two years of lactation” .3 8. In January 2012, the parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Majlis) adopted the new Islamic Penal Code. According to article 90 of the new Islamic Penal Code, juveniles below 18 who commit offences under categories of Hodoud and Qisas (retribution in kind) will not be sentenced to death if the court decides, through forensic reports or any other appropriate means, that the offender did not have adequate mental maturity and ability to reason. Alternatively, the offender will be sentenced to one of the punishments under the category of Ta’zir, appropriate to her or his age. Although the amendment of the Islamic Penal Code does not end executions of juveniles in the country, it establishes new measures to limit sentencing to death. 9. In March 2012, China amended its Criminal Procedure Law to include enhanced procedures for suspects and defendants in capital cases, and provided some clarification regarding the role of lawyers in the final review process. 4 C. Countries that have ratified or committed to ratifying international and regional instruments providing for the abolition of the death penalty 10. In March 2012, Mongolia became the seventy-fourth State party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. 11. In August 2011, the National Assembly of Benin approved a bill for the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol. On 28 February 2012, the President of Benin signed the documents ratifying the Protocol. 12. During the recent universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council Nigeria, Nauru, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Surinam, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe expressed their intention to ratify the Second Optional Protocol. 13. In 2011, Honduras and Dominican Republic acceded to the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty; and Latvia ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty. 2 3 4 4 Written submission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 28 March 2012. Available from www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4e269a3e2.html (accessed 31 May 2012). “China’s New Criminal Procedure Law: Death Penalty Procedures”, Dui Hai Human Rights Law Journal, 3 April 2012. Available from www.duihuahrjournal.org/2012/04/chinas-new-criminalprocedure-law-death_03.html.