A/HRC/42/9 and would be submitted shortly. Furthermore, with assistance from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and OHCHR, 15 key stakeholders had received training on reporting to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the draft report for submission to that Committee had been prepared. It would soon be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. In addition, a proposal to appoint a national mechanism for implementation, reporting and follow-up would be submitted to the Cabinet. 10. The Government was open to receiving assistance to facilitate a national dialogue on the death penalty. 11. While for many years major concerns at the Magistrates’ Court had been a lack of space, a backlog of matters and an absence of a full complement of magistrates, prior to Hurricane Maria those concerns had largely been addressed. For instance, in 2014, the Magistrates’ Court had expanded into another building that had allowed for an additional courtroom and additional facilities for staff. Furthermore, in 2016, the complement of magistrates had been increased from six to eight and all positions had been filled. Those initiatives had contributed to a marked reduction in the backlog of cases. 12. Hurricane Maria had caused major damage to all court facilities. The Magistrates’ Court in Roseau had resumed sitting, mainly for criminal matters, in November 2017. Hearings in the juvenile court, and for civil, family and other matters, had resumed in March 2018. Courtrooms were still being repaired and it was expected that all courts would be functioning normally by the end of the year. The High Court of Justice had similarly experienced extensive damage to its premises and loss of case materials, which affected the ability of the Court to resume hearings. 13. Prior to Hurricane Maria, the criminal division of the supreme court had been largely up to date in dealing with criminal trials. The criminal court had been able to resume operations in January 2019. The civil division of the supreme court had a very heavy case load. 14. There had been no political harassment of opposition parties by the Government. Regarding the events of 7 February 2017, it had been determined that sufficient evidence had been gathered to bring charges against certain opposition parliamentarians and supporters for incitement to riotous conduct and wilful obstruction of the police in the execution of their duties. Due process had been followed and those who had been detained had access to legal counsel. They had been charged and released. The matters were pending before the magistrate court and had been stayed pending a decision from the High Court on a related matter. 15. In relation to the protest action in Salisbury, the reaction of the police had been very measured under the circumstances. 16. The Prime Minister was entitled, as was any other citizen, to take action to protect his reputation and, where appropriate, to seek aggravated damages when the circumstances warranted. The judgment of the Privy Council in a defamation lawsuit, referred to in the summary of stakeholders’ submissions on Dominica as allegedly brought by the Prime Minister, related to a private citizen who had been defamed. 17. Regarding political rights, the electoral system in Dominica had, over the years, generally been considered to be free and fair. However, improvements for the electoral system had been recommended by the electoral office itself and by election observers. For example, the Government had decided to introduce voter identification cards. 18. In 2017, the Government had tabled amendment bills in Parliament related to electoral matters. Following a protest and complaints, the provisions relating to bribery and treating had been removed. On September 2018, a broad consultation had been held by the Government to review and discuss the bills. However, no substantive comments had been received. 19. The Government had made available all of the funding requested by the Electoral Commission for implementing an identification card system and a confirmation process that would lead to a rationalization of the voter list. The process to move forward had been 3