Article 34 of the Convention establishes a Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international committee of independent experts with several functions. Its members are elected during the Conference of States Parties, which takes place in New York. Unlike the Conferences of States Parties of other human rights treaties, that of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also holds substantive discussions on issues related to the Convention's implementation.
State parties elect the experts by secret ballot on the basis of candidatures put forward by the State parties themselves. The State parties elect the expert members taking into account their competence and experience in the field of human rights and disability, and also in consideration of equitable geographic representation, representation of different forms of civilization and legal systems, gender balance, and participation of experts with disabilities. The experts serve in their personal capacity: they do not represent the State that put forward their candidature or that elected them. They are independent.16 In order to guarantee their independence, they do not participate in the review of the reports or in the constructive dialogue connected to their own countries.