The Reporting Procedure Under the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Part of the School of Human Rights Research Series.

Within the framework of the United Nations,various mechanisms exist to monitor the implementation of human rights obligations undertaken by States. This book deals with one of these procedures: the reporting procedure under the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The all-encompassing nature of reports, their examination in public, the continuity in monitoring, the constructive dialogue with government representatives and the possibilities for the Committee to take initiatives are distinguishing features of this procedure.

It is evident that the end of the Cold War has been of great importance for the international protection of human rights, not in the least for the functioning of the reporting procedure. The vague terminology of the relevant Covenant provisions and the Committee's status as an independent expert body made it possible that the reporting procedure changed fundamentally. The most significant improvement is constituted by the conclusion of the examination of reports.

Until 1992, the Committee considered States parties' reports without reaching a formal conclusion addressed to the State party concerned. Since then, it has adopted so-called concluding observations, in which it evaluates the report and the consideration thereof and issues recommendations to governments. In this book the author examines all aspects of the reporting procedure, including the role of the Human Rights Committee.