The Constitutional High Court had been increasingly source of legitimacy. The judiciary had been strengthened through the reform of the Supreme active. Court and press censorship had been abolished. In addition, the proposed revisions of the Constitution now being discussed by the Government and opposition no longer referred to socialism and embraced major reforms of institutions such as the Supreme Council of the Revolution, the Military Committee for Development and the Constitutional High Court. and &gal framework w . * the Covw . * 524. With regard to that issue, members of the Committee wished to receive information on the organizational structure, competence and powers of the decentralized communities and on decisions, if any, taken by the Constitutional High Court or the Supreme Court, in which reference was made to They also asked what follow-up action had been taken as a the Covenant. result of views adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol with regard to Madagascar and what measures had been taken to guarantee the especially with regard to the supervisory body independence of the judiciary, In that connection, additional established within the Supreme Court. information was requested regarding the security of tenure of judges and of With their emoluments and the independence of the body appointing them. regard to the Committee’s findings under the Optional Protocol, it was pointed out that taking action on such decisions did not simply involve the release of where appropriate and in the light political detainees but might also involve, the award of compensation to the victims of of the Committee’s findings, It was also asked what the new economic policies adopted in violations. Madagascar with the encouragement of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had had on the implementation of the Covenant. 525. Further information was sought regarding the work undertaken with a view to the amendment of the Constitution, in particular the general pattern of the It was asked whether it was intended to include a reforms envisaged. provision in the new constitutional text similar to article 12 of the present Constitution concerning the safeguarding of the unity of the socialist legal system. Further information was sought regarding the remedies and compensatory arrangements available to people who believed that their rights had been violated. Information was also requested concerning the relationship between the Charter of the rsalagasy Socialist Revolution and the Constitution; the ranking of enactments such as laws, orders and regulations in the country’s legal systemr the position of international treaties generally and of the Covenant in particular under municipal law; whether the Covenant was directly applicable and could be relied upon in ths courts} and more generally, in the light of the power6 given to the executive to enact legislation in certain fields, how the separation of powers was ensured in Madagascar. With regard to the organization of the judiciary, additional information was requested regarding the functions and activities of the Constitutional High Court, the Supreme Court and special tribunals and the redefinition of their functions contemplated under the constitutional reform, Questions were also asked concerning the scope of the Supreme Court’s supervision of lower courts: the functions of the supervisory body established within the Supreme Courts the reasons for the delay in establishing the Peoples courts mentioned in articles 83 and I34 of the Con6titution: the way in which the participation by citizens in the oversight of justice mentioned in the report had been assured in practice: the powers of lay magistrates! the -129-