549. At the same time, the members of the Committee stressed that Belarus was at a turning-point, and pointed out that the dialogue had revealed shortcomings in current legislation, attributable to the fact that it was still essentially based on the legislation of the former USSR; that the legal system as a whole was under review; and that it was encouraging to hear the delegation state that the experience of democratic countries, particularly in the field of human rights, would be studied and made use of in order to reinforce legal safeguards for civil and political rights, They were gratified by the intentions expressed which held out hope of progress in such important fields as the reform of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, the status of judges, the organization of the judiciary and the reform of police organization. 550. The members of the Committee also said that it was to be hoped that the new legislation, and especially the new Constitution currently being prepared, would take into account not only the provisions of the Covenant and of the other international human rights instruments, but also the relevant observations made by the Committee. In particular, the members of the Committee failed to see why the former Republics of the USSR, including Belarus, still showed a disconcerting reluctance to bring legislation concerning freedom of movement into line with the Covenant. In particular, they failed to understand why they continued to deny individuals the right to leave the country on the grounds that they were in possession of State secrets, despite the fact that the criterion laid down by article 12, paragraph 3, of the Covenant was perfectly clear. The same was true of the exit visa and the system of residence permit (propiska). They were also deeply concerned about the number of offences that carried the death penalty, and hoped that the number would be reduced to four, as the delegation had announced. 551. The representative of the State party thanked the members of the Committee for the understanding they had shown of the situation in Belarus and assured the Committee that he would do his utmost to ensure that the new laws would meet with its satisfaction. In any case, he would transmit all the constructive remarks that had been made to the Government. 552. The Chairman of the Committee thanked the delegation of Belarus for the frankness with which it had explained and updated a report that already contained a wealth of information; the task Had been all the easier as there had been numerous upheavals in the period that had elapsed since the report had been submitted. The extremely constructive dialogue with the Committee had shed light both on positive aspects and on grounds for concern, which, it was to be hoped, would be taken into account in the legislative and constitutional review. The retention of the classification of persons belonging to any religion, in particular the Jewish faith, as a distinct nationality was considered to be without justification. Comments of the Committee 553. As indicated in paragraph 45 above, the Committee, at its 1123rd meeting, held on 24 March 1992, decided that henceforth, at the conclusion of the consideration of a State party's report, it would adopt comments reflecting the views of the Committee as a whole. -132-