committed acts, mainly as being mere behavioral breaches that does not trigger the application of Article (208) of the Penal Code, and giving another characterization of the facts of the torture crime, such as abuse in all of its forms. Despite that the NCHR recorded sentences rendered by the Police Courts on cases of beating and ill-treatment, nonetheless, the Center considers that these rulings are open to challenge and criticism because they were issued by one entity, which is considered as being both judge and party. The most important developments in the field of combating torture during the year 2016, are as follows: 1. The Office of the Public Prosecution continued in investigating allegations of torture. It received (23) complaints of torture and ill-treatment in 2016, as compared to (7) cases in 2015, and (29) cases in 2014. 2. The First National Encounter for Combating Torture, under the theme " Partners in combating torture" was held on 16/7/2016. During the meeting, a number of topics, and problematic areas pertain to torture were discussed, with a view to create an environment that rejects torture, ensuring the protection of the rights of detained persons, and urge the Jordanian Government to accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OP-CAT). 3. The Public Prosecution trend towards instituting proceedings on behalf of public authorities of the facts included in the Court of Cassation decisions indicate that the interrogation measures shall be deemed null and void as a result of torture. With regards to the widespread of torture and ill-treatment cases, it is to be noted that the number of the registered cases against agents of the Public Security Directorate totalled (269) cases in 2016, (29) cases of them referred to unit commander for trial before the, and (18) cases for which it was determined to prevent the defendants to be tried before the Police Prosecutor, (14) cases were referred to the Police Court, whereas (59) cases are under consideration. In comparison, the total number of torture and ill-treatment cases registered against agents of the Public Security Directorate in the year 2015 was (239); (45) cases of them were referred to unit commander for trial, and (147) cases in which it was decided preventing defendants from being tried before the Police Prosecutor, (20) cases were referred to the Police Court, and (27) cases are still under consideration. Whereas the illtreatment cases committed against inmates of Rehabilitation and Reform Centers (RRCs) in 2016 amounted to (40) cases, (8) persons were convicted, whereas the trail of (14) persons was prevented to be carried out before the Police Prosecutor. In 2015, these kind of cases reached (38) cases, of which (12) persons were found guilty, whereas the trial of (26) persons were prevented. On the other hand, as compared to 204 figures, we found that the number of cases reached (61) case, of which (31) persons were convicted, and the trial of (30) persons were prevented. The Center received frequently complaints from citizens of allegations of torture and illtreatment by law-enforcement officials and the security directorates. Table no (2) indicates NCHR handing of the torture complaints it received during the period (2012-2016). The Center, noted, that a decrease in the number of complaints have been seen this year in comparison with the year 2015. 13