A/HRC/37/10 (c) The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 9. An important part of the work undertaken by Benin since 2012 had been the incorporation of international standards into national law. Several pieces of legislation had been adopted to that effect, including: (a) The Children’s Code Act of 25 November 2015; (b) The Act of 13 April 2017 on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities; (c) The Act of 16 June 2016 on community service work, which promoted alternative penalties to deprivation of liberty for certain offences; (d) The Act of 18 March 2013 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, which helped Beninese criminal procedure move towards ensuring better protection of human rights, for example, by allowing persons threatened with deprivation of liberty to challenge their detention before a judge. 10. In response to questions raised, the delegation clarified the status of the death penalty in Benin. After the ratification and entry into force of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, the death penalty had been abolished in practice. The Constitutional Court had ruled that any death sentence would be unenforceable, and the sentences of the 14 persons currently sentenced to death were being commuted. The new Criminal Code, which would be adopted in the first quarter of 2018 by Parliament, would formally confirm the abolition of the death penalty in Benin. 11. With regard to the question of the protection of children’s rights, in 2015, Benin had adopted a Children’s Code that would raise the status of children and afford them protection in all areas. In 2014, Benin had approved a national child protection policy document, which specified, inter alia, the resources available to achieve the objectives set by the State. With a large proportion of the country’s population under the age of 25, it was vital to protect this sector of the population legally and economically. 12. In this connection, the delegation addressed the issue of child labour. Many children in Benin were working, often under duress. The Government had put in place instruments to crack down on the main actors and accomplices in child labour, particularly when it was organized by groups on the margins of society. This was provided for above all by the introduction of specific provisions in the draft Criminal Code currently under consideration by the National Assembly. 13. Aside from the crackdown, the delegation raised the issue of economic and social support for the people of Benin in order to combat child labour. There were basic economic and social factors related to access to education, parental employment and social security which encouraged child labour and that the Government was attempting to address through the following measures: (a) Promotion of compulsory schooling and retention of children in school through the allocation of subsidies and the implementation of a comprehensive school canteen programme in all primary schools; (b) Establishment of an insurance system, including social security and universal health insurance, and support for the poorest families. 14. In concluding its introductory remarks, the delegation reiterated the commitment of Benin to human rights, stressing that it was the demand for human rights at the 1990 Conference of the Active Forces of the Nations that had enabled the State’s transition to a democratic regime. The delegation stood ready to answer questions from the members of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. GE.17-23482 3