HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DISCUSSES ITS WORKING METHODS

Human Rights Committee
19 July 2007



Continues debate on revised general comment on right to a fair trial


The Human Rights Committee charged with overseeing implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights this afternoon debated its working methods, in the context of the organization's ongoing reforms, and continued its second reading of its revised General Comment on Article 14 of the Covenant, on the right to a fair trial and equality before the courts and tribunals.

In the context of its review of its working methods, the Committee discussed three main topics: the harmonization of work of the different human rights treaty bodies; the results of the working group on reservations; and the results of the sixth Inter-Committee Meeting.

Committee Expert Abdelfattah Amor, briefing the Committee on the results of the second meeting of the working group on harmonization, said that during their last meeting in April they had considered the possibility of the harmonization of the work of the various human rights committees. The essential issue was whether a special forum for harmonizing working methods should be set up. A second issue was the setting up of a coordinating body that would help to harmonize the work of the different bodies. Both proposals had been submitted to the Inter-Committee Meeting.

Committee Expert Nigel Rodley presented the results of the working group on reservations and the working group's meeting with the International Law Commission. He said that there was still a way to go to come to a final answer whether or not the treaty bodies had the competence to determine the validity of reservations made by States.

Committee Experts Jose Luis Sanchez Cerro and Abdelfattah Amor then briefed members on the points that had been discussed at the sixth Inter-Committee Meeting, which had also focused on harmonization of the work of treaty bodies and their working methods. It had been decided to hold Inter-Committee Meetings twice a year. The creation of a single human rights committee body was also considered, and cooperation with specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and major human rights institutions was also discussed. A proposition had been made to merge the Inter-Committee meeting and the meeting of chairpersons to the human rights treaty bodies into a hybrid body that would meet twice a year; further work was planned to check if there was any legal issues to that proposal, and how to tackle them if there was.

Rafael Rivas Posada, Chairperson of the Committee, reported the results of the meeting of chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies. He said that they had studied and approved the common ground and agreements that came out of the Inter-Committee Meeting. They also discussed the effects of the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review on the rest of the human rights system.

The ensuing discussion included questions and comments on how the relationship with the Human Rights Council would be addressed, in light of its reforms; whether or not they should have a relationship with it and in what form; the difference in the mandates and working methods between the Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the treaty bodies, and the resulting difficulty of harmonizing them; and the scope of the powers of treaty bodies, in particular the legal force given to their findings by the International Law Commission.

A particular concern voiced by some Experts, in a discussion on enhancing the relationship of the Committee with the Human Rights Council, was that the Council should not be given scope to undermine the legal validity of the Committee's findings and conclusions. That was an issue that was especially pertinent in relation to the future reviews carried out as part of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.

Towards the end of this afternoon’s session, the Committee resumed its second reading of its revised General Comment (CCPR/C/GC/32/CRP.1/Rev.5) and discussed the last issues left before being able to reach a consensus, including on the applicability of article 14 to specialized and military tribunals; how to deal with dissent of some of the Committee’s experts on the issues if a consensus would no be reached.


When the Committee reconvenes tomorrow, Friday, 20 July at 10 a.m. it will continue its discussion on the revised General Comment on article 14.



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For use of information media; not an official record