What the definition of torture is within Scots Law and how this differs from the definition in the UN Convention Against Torture.

Article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture states that; “torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions”.
The enactment of section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 incorporated the offence of torture into UK law. Section 134 replicates Article 1 of the Convention and provides that a public official or person acting in an official capacity, whatever his nationality, commits the offence of torture if in the United Kingdom or elsewhere he intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on another in the performance or purported performance of his official duties. The offence is committed regardless of the nationality of the official, the country in which the torture takes place, whether the suffering is physical or mental, and whether it is caused by an act or an omission. It is punishable by a maximum period of life imprisonment.
Conduct as described in Article 1 may also constitute the common law crime of assault, which is also punishable by a maximum period of life imprisonment.