A/HRC/21/9 67. Estonia commended the United Kingdom on implementing the policy suggestions made during the previous review, particularly regarding the rights of the vulnerable. Furthermore, Estonia recognized the United Kingdom’s commitment to safeguarding the freedom of expression, to international development aid and the reforms of the European Court of Human Rights. Estonia made a recommendation. 68. Finland welcomed the commitment of the United Kingdom to the rights of child; however, according to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other treaty bodies, it had not explicitly prohibited all corporal punishment of children. Finland noted that women in Northern Ireland did not have same access to all sexual and reproductive health care as women in other parts of the United Kingdom. Finland made recommendations. 69. France noted with satisfaction the United Kingdom’s intention to draft a “Bill of Rights” that would guarantee human rights. France welcomed the withdrawal of the reservations to the CRC and noted the United Kingdom’s position regarding the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. France made recommendations. 70. In response to China’s question, the United Kingdom said that the riots that took place in some English towns and cities in 2011 were shocking acts of criminality which ruined business, brought destruction to its streets and made people feel unsafe in their own homes. But the law-abiding majority had reclaimed the streets and helped with the recovery, with many examples of positive social action. The United Kingdom was learning long-term lessons from these events. Victims who had suffered loss or damage to property could claim under a compensation scheme. 71. The Russian Federation and others asked about children in armed conflict. The minimum age for entry into the armed forces reflects the normal school-leaving age of 16 and formal written consent is required from the parents of those under 18. Under-18s are not deployed to operations outside the United Kingdom, except where the operation does not involve personnel being exposed to hostilities. The country regards itself as compliant with the CRC. 72. Responding to Turkey, the United Kingdom said that the Government was fully committed to tackling hate crime as it had no place in a civilized society. The UK had one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world, including a new offence of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, alongside a cross-Government action plan to prevent hate crime happening in the first place. The Welsh Government was currently developing a hate crime framework and the Scottish Government was providing over £ 9 million to organizations and projects working on the ground to help deliver race equality. 73. Responding to Brazil’s question about the proportionate use of stop-and-search, the United Kingdom said that unless the police had a description of a suspect, a person’s race, age or appearance could not be used alone or in combination as the reason for searching someone. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 made clear that stop-and-search must not be conducted in a discriminatory way and in particular that a person’s religion should never be considered a reason to stop and search them. 74. Responding to Switzerland’s question about pre-charge detention, the United Kingdom said the law was applied consistently across the country. However, those suspected of terrorism offences could be detained for up to 14 days before charge to reflect the particular complexity and the international nature of modern counter-terrorism investigations. There were a range of safeguards in place and the British courts had recently confirmed these provisions were compliant with human rights obligations. 11