since most of the rights enshrined in the Covenant were also embodied in the Constitution, any conflicting domestic legislation would be deemed unconstitutional. If an individual claimed that his rights under the Covenant had been infringed, the court would normally rule on the basis of domestic legislation; in the rare cases where that was not possible, the Covenant could be invoked directly before the courts. Furthermore, according to his Government, all the rights enshrined in the Covenant were covered by article 37 of the Constitution and, therefore, could not be neglected. Complaints lodged by a petitioner would be dealt with by the relevant administrative agency and, if the petitioner was not satisfied with the result, he was automatically entitled to lodge a complaint with the courts. Moreover, individuals were free to activate the procedures outlined in the Optional Protocol, and in case the Committee adopted views concerning the Republic of Korea, the Government would make every effort to reflect them in its future legislation. 492. With regard to questions relating to eguality and non-discrimination, the representative of the State party stated that the list laid down in article 11 of the Constitution was purely indicative, and other grounds of discrimination, such as political opinion, were not excluded. The term "reasonable cultural discrimination" was intended to cover differentiation based upon a person's educational accomplishments. Although foreigners were not guaranteed the right to hold public office, the Government did employ foreigners on a contractual basis. Despite the advances in women's status, most female workers were still in low-paid jobs and there were few women in senior academic posts. Furthermore, there were not enough State child-care facilities for low-income families and traditional discrimination against women still lingered on. The Government had endeavoured to eliminate traditional stereotypes, promote women's participation in social and economic activities and increase welfare facilities. The Government was also considering an amendment to a provision of the Nationality Act which provided that women were obliged to take their husband's nationality on marriage and to be naturalized if the husband was naturalized. 493. Regarding article 4 of the Covenant, the representative of the State party stated that, under article 37 of the Constitution and in conformity with article 4, paragraph 2, of the Covenant, it was not permissible to restrict the "essential aspect" of a freedom or right. Under article 76 of the Constitution, the President could issue an emergency order in times of insurgency, external threat, natural disaster or serious financial or economic crisis. If the National Assembly subsequently found that the emergency order was not justified it would be revoked forthwith. 494. With reference to article 6 of the Covenant, the representative of the State party stated that, in addition to the offences covered by the National Security Law, 15 crimes were subject to the death penalty. The death sentence could be imposed in cases of robbery committed with vile aggravating circumstances. The Government had already considerably reduced the number of capital offences and intended to progress further in that direction. The National Security Law dealt with only one generic crime - anti-State activities that endangered national security - and many offences referred to in the law, such as murder for the purposes of insurrection, were also covered by the Criminal Code. Under the Penal Administration Act the death penalty was carried out by hanging. Although abortion was penalized under the -118-