Part II Preventing torture: NHRIs in action | Section III Acting as a control mechanism Coordinator for the South Caucasus. The Ombudsman also translated into Azeri all relevant United Nations information material on the UPR process. The Ombudsman prepared a report to the UPR, based on a broad and inclusive consultation process. One-day meetings with all relevant stakeholders were organized in 2008, across each of the country’s 54 districts. The Ombudsman report was prepared according to the OHCHR guidelines and was referred to extensively in the summary document prepared by OHCHR. During the review of Azerbaijan, 58 delegations made statements. The draft report adopted at the end of the review included 32 recommendations. The final report was adopted by the Human Rights Council in June 2009, with the Ombudsman attending the session. The Ombudsman’s Office intends to translate the recommendations into Azeri and organize follow-up consultations with the authorities on their implementation. 2.3. Human Rights Council complaint procedure 2.3.1. The complaint procedure A new complaint procedure has been established under the Human Rights Council to address consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of all human rights, which occur in any part of the world and under any circumstances. Economic and Social Council resolution 1503 from 1970 provides the basis for the establishment of this new procedure, which retains its confidential nature. It also requires a complainant to exhaust all domestic remedies before lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Council. The complaint procedure does not result in an individual judgement or an individual remedy, rather it aims instead to address systemic patterns of human rights violation. The complaint procedure establishes two distinct working groups: the Working Group on Communications and the Working Group on Situations. The Working Group on Communications, composed of five independent experts, is given the role to assess the admissibility and the merits of communications it receives. All admissible communications and recommendations are transmitted to the Working Group on Situations. The Working Group on Situations is composed of five members appointed by regional groups from Members States of the Human Rights Council. It presents the Council with a report on consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and makes recommendations on the course of action to take. The Council examines reports of the Working Group on Situations in a confidential manner and then takes a decision concerning each situation brought to its attention. 2.3.2. The contribution of NHRIs to the complaints procedure NHRIs can raise awareness at the national level about the complaints procedure, how it works, possible outcomes and the fact that it is a confidential process. NHRIs can also submit information when they have evidence of consistent patterns of human rights violations, such as torture and ill-treatment. 3. Regional complaints mechanisms Three regional systems for the protection of human rights – the European, African and Inter-American systems – have adopted a two-body mechanism for the examination of individual complaints, consisting of a Commission and a Court. The Commissions are quasi-judicial bodies, with the power to issue decisions and recommendations. The Courts have the power to issue legally enforceable judgments. Reforms to the European system in 1999 mean that complaints in this jurisdiction are now made directly to the European Court of Human Rights. Chapter 7: Cooperating with international mechanisms | 75