A/HRC/41/42/Add.1 Optional Protocol to the Convention and recently announced that it would begin the process of ratifying the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women.9 15. Although Canada ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, its provisions are not fully incorporated into the national legal system. They are not directly applicable and do not have full legal effect at the federal, provincial or territorial levels. The federal structure and division of competencies concerning the protection of women’s rights among the federal, provincial and territorial governments, combined with the absence of a strict obligations to apply the Convention’s provisions at all levels, results in varying degrees of incorporation of the Convention into laws on violence against women and girls, which presents specific challenges in assessing implementation gaps. IV. State responses and measures to address violence against women A. Constitutional and legislative and policy framework 16. Canada is a federal system with a division of responsibilities among the federal, provincial and territorial governments, including in the area of violence against women. While the federal Government has jurisdiction over criminal law, the administration of justice is a provincial and territorial responsibility. Federalism should nevertheless not constitute a barrier to human rights implementation. The Special Rapporteur recalls that, in compliance with Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, States parties have core obligations to fulfil their obligations to all women within their jurisdiction. In 2016, the Committee also reiterated that “the federal Government is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the Convention and providing leadership to the provincial and territorial governments” (CEDAW/C/CAN/CO/8-9, para. 10). 17. Sections 15 and 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is part of the Constitution Act, are a repository of equality and non-discrimination provisions. The right to life, liberty and security of the person is guaranteed under section 7 of the Charter and the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment are established under sections 7 and 12. Sections 25 and 35 recognize and affirm the existing indigenous and aboriginal and treaty rights or other rights or freedoms of the aboriginal people of Canada, while section 35 further clarifies that the aboriginal and treaty rights “are guaranteed equally to male and female persons”. 18. Notwithstanding these constitutional guarantees and the accepted international treaties, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Indian Act still discriminates against First Nations women and their descendants with respect to the entitlement to and transmission of Indian status, which represents a continuing violation of international and national gender equality provisions. 19. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects everyone’s right to be treated equally under the law and guarantees broad equality rights and other fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. 9 4 Canada has not ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.