the Supreme Court of the former USSR had had on the status and functioning of the Supreme Court of Belarus; why the right to vote was denied to people in custody under procedures established under criminal procedural law; whether, pending new legislation, the criminal legislation of the former USSR was still in force; and whether Jewish people, perceived elsewhere in the world as a religious minority, continued to be qualified, as under earlier Soviet law, as a national minority. Clarification was also requested on the selection and nomination of judges, their career structure and the disciplinary measures to which they were subject; on the role actually played by the Procurator's Office, especially with respect to the courts; on the role of the police, and on the procedure for appeal against decisions and actions of State bodies or officials, as well as against death sentences passed by the Supreme Court of Belarus. In addition, they wished to know whether domestic legislation that contravened the Covenant would be declared null and void and whether the Covenant would be applied directly in the courts. 527. In reply, the representative of the State party said that the dissolution of the USSR had given rise to economic disruptions, but as far as the rights of citizens were concerned, there had been an enormous step forward. After the ratification of the Covenant, many texts had been adopted to guarantee the exercise of human rights. At present, those guarantees were being expanded and increased. Nearly all the laws enacted since 1990 included a provision stating that, if a particular question was not covered by a law, the international rule applied. TUe draft of the new Constitution on which the Committee members had based their comments had been revised several times and was already out of date. The latest draft was designed to reflect as much of the experience of other countries as possible, so that a workable Constitution would be produced. Pending the adoption of new legislation, the laws of the former USSR were still in force, provided that they did not flagrantly contradict the direction being taken by the new Republic. In other cases, Belarus had applied the provisions of international standards such as the Covenant. Belarus was committed to respecting its international obligations under the treaties to which it was a party; therefore, there was no need to incorporate the Covenant into the Constitution. Concerning the withdrawal of voting rights from persons in detention, the Ministry of Justice would endeavour to ensure that the anomaly was removed in the new legislation. The legislation affecting the activities of procurators had not been changed; however, in practice, procurators merely offered their opinions in their capacity as prosecuting counsel acting on behalf of the State. There were plans to place the Procurator's Office under the authority of the Ministry of Justice in order to remove its influence over the courts altogether. 528. There was as yet no Administrative Court in Belarus and the law currently in force regarding violations of citizens* rights was that of the former Soviet Union. One of several possibilities being considered was action by a collegiate body, which could be appealed against. The new Criminal Code was still at the drafting stage. 529. The representative said that 77 nationalities currently lived together in Belarus. The four main minorities were Ukrainians, Russians, Poles and Jews. A draft law on the question of minorities would probably be adopted on second reading at the autumn session of Parliament. Members of national minorities in Belarus enjoyed the same rights as all other citizens of the Republic. There were about 700,000 Jews in Belarus and they possessed their own -126-