Constitutional and legal framework within which the Covenant is implemented and state of emergency 223. With regard to that issue, members of the Committee wished to know what the constitutional standing of the Ad Hoc Commission on Human Rights was; what action had been taken to follow up its proposals; whether there were any cases in which offences against constitutional freedoms had been punished; what follow-up action had been taken as a result of views adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant with regard to Ecuador; whether the reasons for declaring a state of emergency referred to in the report were consistent with the provisions of article 4 of the Covenant; what rights had been derogated from and what remedies were available during the states of emergency. Members also wished to receive information, in the light of article 141 of the Constitution, on the status of the Court of Constitutional Guarantees and asked what action had been taken as a result of its recommendations. 224. In addition, members inquired what the exact position of the Covenant was within the Ecuadorian hierarchy of norms and whether provisions of the Covenant could be invoked before the Court of Constitutional Guarantees; how many complaints had been referred to the Inter-American Commission on Human Bights; whether former officials of the Criminal Investigation Service had joined the new judicial investigation service; and why cases of violations of human rights were still occurring. Concerning the Ad Hoc Commission on Human Eights, members wished to receive information about its functions and activities, the impact of its decisions on law and practice/ and about the number of complaints that had been submitted to it. Further information was sought as to the applicable procedure and the competent authorities for obtaining compensation pursuant to article 9, paragraph 5, of the Covenant in respect of the Bolanos case and, in particular, about the measures that had been taken by the authorities to grant Mr. Bolanos compensation. 225. With regard to article 4 of the Covenant, it was asked whether the Government had always made use of the notification procedure laid down in paragraph 3 of that article. Clarification was also sought as to the compatibility of article 78 (g) of the Constitution with article 4, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. Members also suggested that the circumstances in which it was possible to proclaim a state of emergency should be more strictly defined since the existing constitutional provisions made it easy to resort to a state of emergency merely in response to labour unrest. 226. In his reply, the representative of the State party stated that the Ad Hoc Commission on Human Rights was a legislative commission established under rule 119 of the rules of procedure of the Rational Congress. As such, it was a multiparty body in which both the Government and the opposition were represented and it dealt with possible violations of human rights from the political standpoint. Its most important action to date had concerned the disappearance of two Colombian brothers, in the course of which it had demonstrated its usefulness and received much public support. It had also played an advisory role with respect to changes in the Civil Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Execution of Sentences. 227. Referring to remedies available for violations of constitutional freedoms, the representative explained that such cases could be brought before -51-