CCPR/C/79/Add.79 page 2 have not yet been completely overcome and that further steps remain to be undertaken in consolidating and developing democratic institutions and strengthening the implementation of the Covenant. The Committee also notes the persistence of political and social attitudes in the country adverse to the promotion and full protection of human rights. The Committee also notes with concern that the lack of clarity in the delimitation of the respective competences of the executive, legislative and judicial authorities may endanger the implementation of the rule of law and a consistent human rights policy. C. Positive aspects 4. The Committee welcomes many recent developments in Slovakia that represent positive steps towards a better promotion and protection of human rights. In particular, the Committee welcomes the preferential status given to international treaties, including the Covenant, over domestic laws; the inclusion of an extensive and elaborate catalogue of fundamental rights, including minority rights, in the Constitution and the adaptation after Slovakia's independence of Constitutional Statute No. 23/1991 enacting a Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms; and the application by the Constitutional Court of provisions of the Covenant, including reference to the Committee's general comments. 5. The Committee welcomes the succession by Slovakia to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on individual communications. 6. The Committee notes with interest the establishment of institutions to deal with human rights issues, such as the Commission for Minorities, the Coordinating Commission on the Status of Women and the Special Representative for persons in need of particular assistance, and looks forward to information, in future reports, about their activities. 7. The Committee welcomes the adoption of measures aiming at redressing past injustices, such as the policy instituted by the Slovak Government, based on Law 87/1991 enacted by the Czech and Slovak Federation, allowing properties confiscated by the former Communist regime to be reclaimed by their former owners or their descendants, and the adoption of Act No. 282/1993 Coll., on the mitigation of certain property injustices done to churches and religious societies between 1945 and 1990, and between 1939 and 1990 in the case of properties previously owned by synagogues and Jewish societies. 8. The Committee commends the abolition of the death penalty in 1990 and recommends that Slovakia ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant. 9. The Committee notes with appreciation the establishment of special units composed of personnel receiving specific training within the Slovak police to deal with crimes against women and children, and the enactment of new laws to deal with violence against women and the sexual exploitation of children. 10. The Committee welcomes the adoption of a new law on citizenship, which protects all children born in Slovakia from being stateless.