no right to appeal in cases of refusal. Legislation on trade union rights had been enacted in April 1991/ laying down procedures for the establishment of trade unions and setting out guarantees concerning the rights of workers. There were at present nine different trade unions active in Mongolia. 582. Freedom of opinion was guaranteed under article 16 of the Constitution and new legislation was being prepared on that subject. There were no restrictions on access to foreign publications but the lack of hard currency made it difficult to acguire and import them. A. bill currently before Parliament would become Mongolia's first press law once it was adopted. When the new Penal Code had been enacted in 1986, all articles restricting criticism had been eliminated and criticism had ceased to be a punishable offence. 583. A decree issued in 1990 regulating procedures on the holding of meetings and demonstrations was currently under review. Although the decree stipulated that the Executive Committee of the Khural of People's Deputies must be given advance notice of any such proposed events, it had been decided that the final decision concerning permission would be taken by the mayor of the locality concerned. There was at present no provision for remedy in the case of negative decisions, but the possibility of appealing to local courts was envisaged. 584. The new Constitution prohibits discrimination against national minorities, who represented some 22 per cent of the country's population. There were a number of cultural and linguistic institutes which were concerned with preserving the heritage of these minorities. Additionally, in areas where there were significant concentrations of Kazakhs, Mongolia's largest national minority, the Kazakh language was commonly used in schools and in the print and broadcast media. Concluding observations by individual, members, 585- Members of the Committee expressed their appreciation of the useful dialogue with the representatives of the State party and observed with satisfaction that the delegation was of a high level. That was taken as an indication of the importance attached by Mongolia to meeting its obligations under the Covenant. Since the submission of its second periodic report, Mongolia had made a serious effort to comply with its obligations under the Covenant and significant progress in many areas had been made. 586. Members of the Committee noted that the reform of Mongolia's legal system and political institutions was still under way. The fact that many of those rights enshrined in the Constitution had been incorporated from the Covenant was noted with satisfaction. Concern was expressed over the fact that there still remained numerous areas where new legislation was needed to replace outdated laws and to give force to the rights recognized in the Constitution. In particular, the provisions of the Covenant needed to be more closely reflected in the new penal and criminal codes. Additionally, members expressed the view that the position occupied by the Covenant in Mongolian domestic law was generally unclear and that the Covenant should be invocable by individuals in a court of law. -140-