The Committee considers the merits either after or simultaneously with a communication's admissibility. Some treaty bodies consider accessibility and the merits at the same time, while others consider one after the other. The advantage of considering accessibility and merits together is that it saves time. The general process can be summarized as follows.
The next stage is the Committee's adoption of its decision or views on a communication. This is done on the basis of the written information provided by the two parties and the application of the Convention to the facts as determined by the Committee. The Committee then forwards its views and recommendations, if any, to the State party concerned and to the petitioner. In there has been a violation, the Committee would normally request the State party to take appropriate steps to remedy it. The practice of the Committee in this regard is of course not yet developed. In the experience of other treaty bodies, these steps might be limited to recommendations that a State party should provide an “appropriate remedy”, or they might be more specific, such as recommending the review of policies or the repeal of a law, the payment of compensation or the prevention of future violations.
Rule 75 of the Committee's rules of procedure sets out that, within six months of transmission of its views, the State party must submit a written response with information on any follow-up action. The Committee may then request further information from the State party and it may also request the State party to include information in its periodic report to the Committee.
Interestingly, there is a focal point to follow up on the implementation of the Committee's views. The rule establishes that the Committee may appoint a special rapporteur or working group to ascertain the measures taken by State parties to implement views and recommendations. The special rapporteur or working group may make contacts and take action as appropriate to follow up on views and can also recommend action to the Committee. If the Committee and the State party agree, the special rapporteur or working group can visit the country and report back to the Committee.