the establishment of a market economy well integrated into the world economy. Since the presentation of its second periodic report/ Mongolia had become a party to the Optional Protocol and adherence to the Convention against Torture and The Hague Convention on Civil Procedure was at present under active consideration in Parliament. Constitutional and legal framework within which the Covenant is implemented; non-discrimination and equality of the sexes? and state of emergency 564. With reference to those issues, members of the Committee wished to know if there had been any change in the status of the Covenant within the Mongolian legal system brought about by the new Constitution; to what extent the provisions of the Covenant had been taken into account in the process of adopting the Constitution and amending legislation; what the relationship was between the Supreme Legislative and Executive Organs of Mongolia and what their respective roles were in so far as the implementation of the Covenant was concerned; whether the role of the Procurator's Office had changed under the new Constitution and laws; and what cases, if any, there bad been during the period under review where the provisions of the Covenant were directly invoked before the courts or referred to in court decisions. Additionally, members of the Committee wished to have information on measures taken to compensate victims of past violations of human rights; the activities of the Commission on the Rehabilitation of Persons Subjected to Unlawful Repression; and the nature of compensation being offered to citizens who had suffered damage through a wrongful conviction, wrongful prosecution or wrongful detention in custody. Members of the Committee also wished to know in which respects the rights of aliens, who did not benefit from the special agreements mentioned in paragraph 9 of the report, were restricted as compared-with those of citizens. 565. In addition, members of the Committee wished to know what the position of the Covenant was in regard to domestic law and whether the provisions of the Covenant prevailed in cases of conflict between the two; how the provisions of the Covenant had been publicized and disseminated; how the general public had been made aware of its rights under the Optional Protocol and what mechanism was foreseen for following up communications presented under this instrument; how recent economic and political changes had affected the equality of the sexes and what measures had been taken thus far to eliminate discrimination in this regard; and what measures had been taken to ensure freedom from discrimination on the basis of political opinion. Members of the Committee also wished to have further clarification concerning the grounds for declaring a state of emergency, and about the rights that could subsequently be suspended and those that could not be derogated from. 566. In reply, the representative of the State party noted that the provisions of the Covenant had been taken into account during the drafting of the new Constitution as well as the many new laws and regulations now coming into force. Considerable effort was being made to ensure that new legislation was drafted in conformity with the provisions of the Covenant and other international human rights instruments. With regard to the position of the Covenant in Mongolian law, the new Constitution accorded supremacy to international law over domestic law. Under article 10 of the Constitution, the provisions of international treaties were effectively incorporated into domestic law upon entry into force of the instrument concerned. Legislation -135-