A/HRC/42/28 introduced expedited procedures, primarily targeted at cases where the defendant is considered to have confessed. The law provides that these procedures may apply to crimes carrying the death penalty. 58 In Pakistan, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 also provides for expedited trials.59 Such provisions notably reduce the time available to those accused to prepare their defence and, given the associated risks, should not be applied in cases that might entail the death penalty. D. Rights to effective legal representation, to information and to appeal 26. Where use of the death penalty is resumed after a long moratorium, there may be a lack of lawyers experienced in representing clients facing capital charges, making the risk of inadequate legal representation particularly high. Persons suspected of or charged with a crime for which capital punishment may be imposed have a right to adequate and effective legal assistance at all stages of the proceedings. 60 Death penalty cases are generally longer and more complex than other criminal trials. Full rights of appeal must be guaranteed in law, and all rights of appeal exercised must be strictly and scrupulously conducted. The Human Rights Committee has taken the view that States must take all feasible measures to avoid wrongful convictions in death penalty cases, including measures to allow for reconsideration of convictions and re-examination of past convictions on the basis of new evidence, including DNA evidence.61 27. Where resumption occurs without sufficient notice, it may also result in violations of due process rights. The Human Rights Committee has held that failure to provide individuals with timely notification about the date of their execution constitutes a form of ill-treatment, which renders the subsequent execution contrary to the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 62 In Bahrain, a seven-year moratorium on executions was lifted in 2017, less than a week after the Court of Cassation had upheld the death sentences of three individuals who were subsequently executed. 63 The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions noted with concern that when executions were resumed in India in 2012, it was reported that the authorities did not make a prior announcement specifically in order to avoid intervention from human rights activists.64 28. According to the Human Rights Committee, following a final judgment, convicted persons who are sentenced to death must have a meaningful right to seek pardon or commutation.65 The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has pointed out that, during moratoriums, prosecutors might be more inclined to demand and judges to impose death sentences, assuming that they would not, in fact, be implemented.66 The interests of justice demand that any request for pardon or commutation made in such circumstances be examined particularly seriously. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern in July 2017 that a threatened revival of the death penalty in Maldives after a 60-year moratorium did not allow for the executive to grant pardon or 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 Submission of The Rights Practice. Submission of Justice Project Pakistan. Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, para. 5; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 14 (3) (d); and Human Rights Committee, general comments No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial, para. 38, and No. 36, para. 41. General comment No. 36, para. 43. Ibid., para. 40; and CCPR/C/JPN/CO/6, para. 13. Joint submission of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. A/69/265, para. 105, citing Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions 2012 (April 2013), p. 20. Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, para. 7; and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 6 (4). A/69/265, para. 106. 9