TREATY BODIES

MEETINGS AND DEADLINES

STATE REPORTING TO TREATY BODIES

COMPLAINTS

DATABASES

Resources

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TREATY BODIES

MEETINGS AND DEADLINES

STATE REPORTING TO TREATY BODIES

COMPLAINTS

DATABASES

Resources

The treaty bodies constitute a fundamental pillar of the international human rights protection system. The treaty body system has grown significantly since the establishment of the first treaty body in 1969. This growth has greatly enhanced human rights protection. However, the growth of the treaty body system does not come without challenges.

Some of these challenges include:

  • A growing backlog of State reports, individual communications, and urgent actions;
  • Insufficient compliance by States parties with their reporting obligations;
  • Diverging working methods among the treaty bodies;
  • The lack of digital tools to carry out the treaty bodies’ work more efficiently;
  • An underinclusive resource formula in UN General Assembly resolution 68/268 that does not account for a number of core-mandated activities of the treaty bodies and the related meeting time necessary and staffing support by the Secretariat;
  • Liquidity crises of the United Nations that affect the treaty body system disproportionately as they rely heavily on the regular budget.

Ongoing discussions about treaty body strengthening

In addressing the numerous challenges faced by the treaty bodies in the years since they were created, it is crucial to strengthen horizontal contacts between treaty bodies and constant simplification and alignment of their working methods. This facilitates focused and coherent procedures and methods of work as well as the treaty bodies’ findings and recommendations and eventually increase the combined impact of the system for the benefit of all stakeholders interacting with the treaty bodies: States, UN Country Teams, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, academia, and, last but not least, victims and survivors of human rights violations and their relatives and representatives alike.

On 9 April 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 68/268, entitled “Strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system”, by which it decided to, by 2020 at the latest, review the effectiveness of the measures taken to ensure sustainability of the human rights treaty body system and, if appropriate, to decide on further action to strengthen and enhance its effective functioning.

The co-facilitation process led by Morocco and Switzerland concluded in 2020 with a report and recommendations. The process included informal consultations with Member States, in both New York and Geneva, as well as with OHCHR, the treaty bodies and all other relevant stakeholders, such as civil society, academia, and national human rights institutions.

Achievements

Since the adoption of resolution 68/268 and the treaty body strengthening work that followed, the treaty body system has seen a growing engagement by States. Ratifications of, and accessions to, human rights treaties and their optional protocols have steadily increased. The year 2023 saw a surge in reporting compliance by States parties, as well as a number of ratifications during the HR 75 ratification campaign.

Thanks to the efforts of the treaty bodies, good progress has been made in expanding the simplified reporting procedure and coordinating between treaty bodies. Their shared vision has led to concrete results in terms of accessibility and predictability.

In 2022, for example, the main achievements of treaty bodies ranged from the Chairs’ conclusions on the treaty body strengthening process to the adoption of 133 concluding observations and 285 views on individual communications and 95 urgent action requests sent by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances to States.

In 2023, with regard to treaty body strengthening, the main achievements included the following:

The OHCHR “Working Paper - Options and guiding questions for the development of an implementation plan for the conclusions of the treaty body Chairs at their 34th meeting in June 2022” (May 2023) that was requested by the Chairs to implement their conclusions of June 2022 (conclusions, paras. 55-56). The Working Paper was updated in April 2024 with additional annexes that compile reactions to the Working Paper, including by the treaty body Chairs at their 35th annual meeting (29 May to 2 June 2023) and by representatives of States during the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ informal briefing to States on the treaty body strengthening process on 1 November 2023.

The Working Paper offers technically detailed options and guiding questions on proposed reforms that are based on the Chairs’ conclusions on three main pillars (introduction of an 8-year predictable schedule of reviews of States parties reports, the harmonization of working methods, and a digital uplift). Importantly, it aims to respond to reform proposals articulated by States, including those contained in the co-facilitation process report, in the letter by 42 States to then High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet of 30 May 2022 and the letter by 43 States to the treaty body Chairs of 2 June 2021.

Informal, unedited translations of the OHCHR Working Paper: 
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(These informal, unedited translations were produced by an external service provider with a view to facilitate exchanges on the OHCHR Working Paper. The English language version of this document contains the original text.)

Executive summary of the Working Paper: 
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Presentation of the Working Paper: 
English

During the 35th annual meeting of the Chairpersons of the treaty bodies (29 May to 2 June 2023), the Chairs validated the OHCHR Working Paper as the technical tool for the implementation of their conclusions in the final phase of the treaty body strengthening process. The Chairs developed a common position on the main options and guiding questions contained in the Working Paper, which are outlined in their conclusions of 2023.

In these conclusions, the Chairs stated that all three options for the introduction of an 8-year predictable schedule of reviews and for follow-up reviews, as presented in the OHCHR Working Paper, were in line with their conclusions of June 2022. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances would align their country visit and reporting procedures to the predictable schedule of reviews accordingly. Further, the Chairs decided to establish a coordination mechanism on the harmonization of working methods and substantive coordination on common and intersectional issues and to prepare concrete proposals for the Chairs for their conclusive action on these issues, while respecting the specificities of each Committee” conclusions 2023, paras. 10-11.

The informal briefing convened by the High Commissioner on 1 November 2023 served to present the OHCHR Working Paper, to seek initial feedback from States and to launch a consultative process towards the next GA resolution. The meeting was very well attended by 118 States from all regional groups. States constructively engaged in detail on the options and guiding questions contained in the OHCHR Working Paper.

Lastly, the year 2023/2024 saw the launch of a digital platform to submit complaints of human rights violations to UN human rights mechanisms, including the treaty bodies.

UN General Assembly (GA) resolutions on the status of the human rights treaty body system

The GA has taken an active role in strengthening the treaty bodies and supporting initiatives to ensure accurate funding, coordination and harmonization of working methods, amongst other areas. The following Resolutions were adopted by the GA over the years.

UN Secretary-General's reports on the status of the human rights treaty body system

GA Resolution 68/268 called for biennial updates on the treaty body system to the General Assembly through reports on the status of the treaty body system. There have so far been four reports published on the status of the treaty body system, with the fifth to be released later in 2024.

History of the treaty body strengthening process

Since 1988, the UN has undertaken several major initiatives to enhance the effectiveness of the treaty body system:

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