HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DISCUSSES DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR STATE REPORTS

MORNING
HR/CT/99/24
28 July 1999



The Human Rights Committee this morning discussed draft guidelines designed to assist States parties in their reporting obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Once adopted, the draft guidelines, which were prepared by one of the Committee's experts, will replace all earlier versions issued by the Committee and will be followed by States parties preparing initial and periodic reports.

The intent of the version under development is to reduce the need for the Committee to request further information when it considers a report; and to help the Committee to examine human-rights situations in every State party on an equal basis.

The draft guidelines term a State party’s initial report, a country’s first opportunity to explain to the Committee the extent to which its laws and practices comply with the provisions of the Covenant. Initial reports should -- among other things -- establish the Constitutional and legal framework for the implementation of Covenant rights and explain the principal legal and practical measures adopted to give effect to the Covenant.

The periodic reports that follow, according to the draft guidelines, should not only provide a thorough examination of the status of Covenant rights in the country, but in particular should report on action taken to respond to the Committee's previous concerns and recommendations; periodic reports also should summarize noteworthy changes which have occurred in the country since the previous report.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. in private, but expects to hold a brief public meeting over the course of the afternoon to discuss further its draft guidelines.