A/HRC/12/13 Page 4 8. In response to written advance questions, the delegation stated that all trials are conducted in accordance with Constitutional and legal procedures, and based on principles – the most important of which is the presumption of innocence – and require the availability of conclusive irrefutable evidence. There is an effective institutional mechanism to evaluate the performance of judges on a regular basis and to hold judges in error accountable for their acts. The Constitution and laws in force consider torture of accused persons, or persons subject to custody, and arbitrary detention as crimes with no statute of limitation and for which the perpetrators deserve just punishment. Extrajudicial, arbitrary, summary or unjust execution is unlikely to happen and is a violation to the Constitution and subject to punishment under the laws in force. 9. The judiciary does not approve the death penalty except for the most serious crimes, and this penalty has never been executed against any Yemeni citizen or non-Yemeni outside the concerned judicial mechanism. This penalty is limited and confined to cases determined in accordance with legal provisions. It has judicial guarantees that minimize executions, including the right of the President of the Republic to pardon those sentenced in cases specified by the law. 10. The Yemeni Penal Code defines the age of full criminal responsibility as 18 years at the time the perpetrator commits the crime and the law does not permit the imprisonment of children in penal facilities and obliges the Attorney-General’s Office to place juvenile offenders in a care and rehabilitation home. A judicial reform strategy has been adopted which affects regulatory and legislative procedures, including the separation of the office of the President of the Higher Council of the Judiciary from that of the President of the Republic and its transfer to the President of the Supreme Court. Laws on the judiciary are being amended now, which will enhance the independence of the judiciary. A restructuring has been made of the Accountability Council within the Higher Council of the Judiciary, which is responsible for the accountability of the judges referred to it. 11. The judicial reforms included activation of the role of judicial oversight in surveillance and inspection of the work of judges and appraisal of their performance through periodic and unannounced inspections, receipt of citizens’ complaints and carrying out desk and field examination of such complaints. 12. The Constitution stipulates that citizens are equal in rights and duties, which are guaranteed by the relevant laws and legislation. The Government has taken a number of actions to address discrimination and violence against women, including the establishment of a team of legal experts to study national legislation concerning women and eliminate any discriminatory provisions against women that are incompatible with international conventions. This has resulted in (a) amendment of the Yemeni Nationality Act No. 6 of 1990, by granting the original nationality to the children of a Yemeni mother married to a foreigner on an equal footing with the children of a Yemeni father; (b) addition of an article to the Police Authorities Act No. 15 of 2000, providing for the right of Yemeni women to serve in the police force; (c) amendment of the Social Insurance Act No. 26 of 1991, providing for equality between women and men in terms of the age of retirement; and (d) amendment of article 95 of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps Act, granting Yemeni women the right to work with their husbands in the same mission abroad. 13. Tackling violence against women takes various forms, including the formulation of a strategy containing targets and measures, the most important of which is the development of a programme for combating violence against women. The Yemeni Network for Combating