It was applicable to all Beninese.

There were four principal indigenous languages, and all Beninese understood French.

Article 553 Any citizen of Benin who is outside the territory of the Republic and is found guilty of an act considered to be criminal under Beninese law may be tried and sentenced in Beninese courts.

When a Beninese woman married, she used both her maiden name and her husband's name.

Ms. Boko Nadjo (Benin) said that Beninese national legislation contained no explicit definition of discrimination.

Any citizen of Benin who is outside the Republic and is found guilty of an act considered to be criminal under Beninese law may be tried and sentenced in Beninese courts, if the act is punishable under the laws of the country where it was committed.

Constitutional, legislative and regulatory measures allowed Beninese women to be represented in the political, economic and social life of the country.

Article 554 Anyone who, in the territory of the Republic, becomes an accomplice to a crime or offence committed abroad may be tried and sentenced by Beninese courts, if the act is punishable under both Beninese and foreign law, on the condition that the criminal act or offence has been definitively proved by the foreign court.

The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 are applicable to persons who have acquired Beninese citizenship only after the commission of offence with which they are charged.

Mr. Flinterman, noting that Benin's law on naturalization was being revised to take into account, among other things, gender non discrimination, wished to know the main elements of the draft law whether it would include the current discriminatory provision preventing foreign born women marrying a Beninese national from acquiring Beninese nationality and whether the new law would give men and women equal rights with respect to their children's naturalization.

NGOs also played an active role in the advancement of Beninese women, who were, by law, entitled to be represented at all levels of the country's political, economic and social life.

The achievement of gender equality was a priority for the Beninese Government and, in that connection, one of the key objectives of its programme of action for 2001 2006 was the advancement of women.

She also wondered whether a comprehensive analysis had been made of the implementation of the Convention under Beninese law, whether efforts were being made to remedy gaps, and, if so, what was the time line for such revisions.

Article 26 of the Beninese Constitution enshrined the principle of equality between women and men, and other legislative measures adopted in implementation of the provisions of the Convention included the Labour Code of 1998, which afforded women special protection in certain situations, Decree No. 2001 019 on the conditions for access to widowhood pensions and the Act on the Suppression of Genital Mutilation.