Ukrainian SSRI what the impact of the Declaration of State Sovereignty would be in that regard; and whether the USSR Constitution would continue to have precedence over the Ukrainian Cr.%stitution and over domestic law, 196. In his reply, tha representative of the State party said that the adoption of the Declaration was one of the clearest indications of the Ukrainian nation’s strong desire that its right to self-determination should It had been possible, even before the adoption of the be respected. Declaration, for the Supreme Soviet of tie Ukrainian SSR to repeal legislation adopted by the USSR Council of Ministers that was not in conformity with Ukrainian legislation. However. where a Union agreement had been concluded in which the Republic had assigned part of its competence to Union bodies, the competence and jurisdiction of the Union bodies would have precedence. of the sey~~ 197. With regard to that issue , members of the Committee wished to know the extent to which the principle of equality of rights and equality before the law contained in article 32 of the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR was applicable to aliens. Observing that political opinion was not one of the grounds for discrimination referred to in article 32 of the Constitution, they also wondered whether, in the light of the current situation and the amendment of the provisions governing the role of the Communist Party, attention had been given to broadening the provisions relating to non-discrimination. 198. In his reply, the representative stated that the Supreme Soviet had recently voted in favour of reviewing the legislation in order to improve the status of women, While there was no discrimination based on sex, in practice there were still substantial inequalities which were extremely difficult to overcome. Aliens had the same rights under the Constitution as citizens of the Republic, with the Sole exception of the right to political participation. Under the new Constitution, membership of any party would no longer be grounds for discrimination. I I to lffa 199. In connection with that issue, members of the Committee wished to know how often and for what crimes the death penalty had been imposed and carried out since the consideration of the second periodic report of the Ukrainian SSRI whether any consideration had been given to the abolition of the death penaltyr whether there had been any prosecutions, and if so with what results, under articles 108 (2) and 123 (2) of the Criminal code: and what measures had been taken to protect the right to life against the risk of nuclear disaster and environmental pollution, particularly subsequent to the accident at Chernobyl. Although welcoming the fact that the number of crimes carrying the death penalty had fallen from 17 to 6, members wished to receive further information about the draft new Principles of Criminal Legislation. They also wished to know why the provision that the death penalty would not be applied oither to women or to men over the age of 60 had not yet been applied and whether the right to appeal against a death sentence was provided for in legislation. Concern was al.50 expressed over the fact that statistical data relating to the application oE the death penalty was considered confidential. -40-