561. The Committee considered the second periodic report of Jordan (CCPR/C/46/Add.4) at its 1077th to 1079th meetings, on 17 and 10 July (see CCPR/C/SR.1077-1079). 1991 568. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party, who stated that democracy had been strengthened as a result of the general elections held in 1989, in which candidates of the four major political conservative, left-wing and nationalist - had taken movements - Islamic, During the elections, women had been able to stand as candidates under part. the same conditions as men. The Jordanian people had thus been able to elect their representatives freely and under conditions of complete equality. In order to strengthen the principles of democracy and political pluralism that characterieed Jordanian society, His Majesty King Hussein had issued directives to oet up a Royal Committee for the protection of the rights set forth in the National Charter, which itself stressed the need to protect all political, social and cultural rights and enshrined the concepts of the civil, rule of law and of political pluralism. The Jordanian system provided full legal and administrative safeguards for respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. 569. The representative of the State party also informed the Committee that the state of emergency had been suspended by royal decision on 7 July 1991, in order to strengthen those democratic principles, and that a number of bills on matters that included political parties, elections and publications would shortly be considered by the Jordanian Parliament. 570. With regard to that issue , members of the Committee wished to know whether the statement that the Jordanian courts gave international conventions precedence over domestic legislation “unless public order would be jeopardieed thereby” could apply to the Covenant; whether the Covenant’s provisions could be invoked before the courts? whether a court could declare a law unconstitutional on grounds that it was contrary to the Covenant: what difficulties and factors that might possibly hinder the Covenant’s implementation had been identifiedr and, in particular, what bearing the recent armed conflict in the region had had on the Covenant’s implementation, 571. Members of the Committee, having noted that the adoption of the National Charter represented a genuine step forward in respect for human rights and information on the document’s legal status and On democracy, asked for further the bill, currently before Parliament, intended to amend the 1953 Act relating to communist ideology. With reference to unwritten laws, including tribal laws, authorizing certain practices which could give rise to innocent victims, they asked whether the Government was taking steps to end the application of such of those laws as would run counter to the principles set forth in the Covenant. Some members of the Committee also asked whether the Jordanian Goverxxnent was planning to repeal the Defence Act, in force since 1935, or st least to limit its application; what the composition of civil courts was; what the special courts were; how judges were recruited and what were the conditions in which they performed their duties, the grounds on which they could be dismissed and the criteria which governed their promotion; what -140-