A/HRC/33/11 7. The main priorities of the Government in the area of economic and social development remained ensuring social and political stability, economic prosperity and the social well-being of the people. The poverty reduction strategy for 2010-2013 and the strategy to improve the well-being of the population for 2013-2015 had been implemented within the framework of the national development strategy for the period up to 2015. Subsequently, a decline in the poverty rate had been observed. The drafting of a new national development strategy, covering the period up to 2030, had begun. 8. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for the period 2016-2020 had been approved by the Government and the United Nations, in order to help Tajikistan face its development challenges. The Framework covered the following main areas: democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights, sustainable and equitable economic development, social development, inclusion and empowerment and resilience and environmental sustainability. 9. The 2013-2015 national plan to implement the recommendations made by United Nations Member States in connection with the first review of Tajikistan had been approved pursuant to a presidential decision adopted in April 2013. The national plan had been developed in cooperation with civil society and international organizations. Several measures to bring legislation and practice into conformity with the State’s international human rights commitments had been taken in the framework of the plan. 10. Tajikistan had been implementing a policy of zero tolerance with respect to torture. The definition of torture in the Criminal Code had been brought into line with article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Several other legal and policy measures had been taken to implement the recommendations from the first review to combat torture. The law on the suspension of the death penalty had come into force and a moratorium on the death penalty had been imposed. Amendments to the Criminal Code had introduced a maximum limit of 20 years for prison sentences. The transition to the abolition of the death penalty would take place gradually and would involve addressing issues of an administrative, financial and legal nature. 11. The Constitution guaranteed the independence of the judiciary. The 2015-2017 judicial reform programme, which constituted the third stage of reforms, aimed to strengthen the judiciary and increase the role of courts in protecting human rights and freedoms and the interest of the State and in ensuring the rule of law and access to justice. As part of the judicial reform process, an adversarial system had been introduced. 12. Tajikistan had adopted a new law on advocacy and the Bar, which regulated the mandate, rights and responsibilities of lawyers, the issuance of licences to practice law, the entry to the legal profession and disbarment. The law established a qualification commission under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, consisting of nine members from various bodies, including the Bar. The Government had adopted a concept document on legal aid in close cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme. A new law on legal aid was to be adopted on the basis of the outcome of the project to pilot the new legal aid model. 13. Amendments to the law on the Commissioner for Human Rights had been adopted in March 2016 to ensure the independence and improve the effectiveness of the work of the Commissioner. The new amendments provided for the involvement of the Commissioner in the process of ratifying new human rights treaties. In addition to visiting penitentiary institutions, the Commissioner had been granted a broad mandate to visit all places where people were deprived of their liberty. Moreover, the amendments to the law had introduced a new section on the establishment of an ombudsman on the rights of the child. 4