Preventing Torture An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutions - Updated Edition
Treaty Body
Treaty
Examination
of reports
Individual
complaints
Committee on the
Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
Convention on the
Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (2006)
Yes
Optional Protocol
Committee
on Enforced
Disappearances
International Convention
for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced
Disappearances (2006)
Yes
Article 31
1.1. Role of NHRIs in the treaty body reporting procedure
Each treaty establishes a reporting procedure which requires States parties to regularly present a
report on their compliance with, and implementation of, their treaty obligations. Some treaty bodies
have pre-session meetings during which they adopt a list of questions that the State will be required
to answer. The report is then examined during a public session of the treaty body, in the presence of
a delegation of the State party, which considers all information provided by the State and information
received from other sources. Based on this process, treaty bodies adopt concluding observations,
which refer to the positive aspects of the State’s implementation and areas where they recommend
the State to take further action.
Most treaty bodies also offer States an optional simplified reporting procedure, known as “List of
Issues Prior to Reporting” (LOIPR) procedure. The LOIPR is a public list of limited issues, which the
treaty bodies adopt based on a review of submitted information and transmits to States parties prior
to the submission of their respective periodic report. Under the LOIPR procedure, the State is required
to submit a common core document and its replies to the list of issues.
Recently, several treaty bodies have explicitly recognised the importance of participation by NHRIs
in the treaty bodies’ work and formalized their participation through adoption of various documents.
For example, in 2019 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women adopted a
paper on the cooperation between the Committee and NHRIs.105
1.1.1. Pre-reporting procedure
NHRIs can play an important role in the pre-reporting process. In particular, they can discuss the
reporting process with their Government and help ensure that the State’s report is submitted on time.
1.1.2. Reporting and simplified reporting procedures
The role of NHRIs in the reporting procedure can differ from one treaty body to another. However, as
a minimum, NHRIs can:
• submit their own independent report on the State’s compliance with, and implementation of, the
treaty
• submit their written information for the list of issues or list of issues prior to reporting adopted
by the treaty body
• provide briefings for members of the treaty bodies, either in person or remotely via
videoconference
105
90
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Paper on the cooperation between the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and National Human Rights Institutions, adopted by the Committee at
its seventy-fourth session (21 October-8 November 2019)
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