Human rights — Right to life — Capital punishment — Mandatory death penalty — Whether compatible with Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Prerogative of mercy — Whether Covenant prescribing procedure to be followed — Due process — Delay — Ill-treatment following arrest — Conditions of detention — Legal aid — Whether required for constitutional challenge based on Covenant rights — Object and purpose of the Covenant and the Optional Protocol — Reservations to the Optional Protocol

International tribunals — United Nations Human Rights Committee — Jurisdiction — Reservation to State’s accession to the Optional Protocol — Whether limiting jurisdiction of the Tribunal — Whether reservation compatible with object and purpose of the Optional Protocol — Severability of reservation

Treaties — Reservations — Permissibility — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969, Article 19 — Reservation to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Object and purpose of the Optional Protocol — Whether reservation compatible with object and purpose — Effect of impermissible reservation — Whether severable