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The
United Nations Human Rights Committee Does this mechanism apply to the country in which you are interested? About the Human Rights Committee The mandate of the Human Rights Committee What this mechanism can do to assist you How the Committee investigates a complaint How to submit an individual complaint Further information about the Human Rights Committee
Does
this mechanism apply to the country in which you are interested? Note on how to use this link
You may wish to print this note
before proceeding. You will now see an information page relating to the
country you have selected. If the letter Y is entered after the words
“state party” then this procedure applies to the country you
have selected. If the letter N is entered, then the procedure does not
apply. About
the Human Rights Committee
The Committee is a treaty body and it has treaty (international legal) powers. These powers entitle the Committee to check whether countries are meeting their legal obligations to protect human rights as set out in the ICCPR. The Committee is made up of 18 persons who serve in their personal capacity. It meets 3 times a year at the United Nations in Geneva and in New York. The mandate of the Human Rights Committee The rights
set out in the ICCPR include the following: the right to life, the right to freedom from torture, the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of association and assembly, the right to freedom of expression, the right to an effective remedy, the right to privacy and the right to freedom from discrimination. What this mechanism can do to assist you 1 Request interim measures When the Committee receives a complaint that a violation of the ICCPR is about to take place it can request the state concerned to take ‘interim measures’ to prevent the violation taking place. ‘Interim measures’ mean the Committee asks the state to take temporary action to prevent a violation before formal investigations into the complaint have been completed.
It is
important to note that the Committee can only request
that a state take interim measures and the state is not legally
bound to comply with the request. 2 Declare that the state has violated the ICCPR 3
Call upon a state to end a violation of the ICCPR In its
‘views’ the Committee can also call upon the state to take immediate
action to end a violation of the ICCPR. For instance, the Committee can
call upon a state to release a victim from detention, to commute a death
sentence imposed after an unfair trial, or to compensate a victim. Although
the state concerned is not legally bound to comply with the Committee’s
‘views’, the Committee can ask to be informed of the action
a state has taken to end or remedy a violation. The Committee usually
asks the state to provide this information within 90-180 days from the
date on which it adopted its ‘views’. Although the Committee cannot force a state to right a wrong, its decisions can carry political and moral force and many states do comply with its decisions. In addition, decisions of the Committee often attract attention from the international media. This can put pressure on a state to comply with a decision of the Committee. How
the Committee investigates a complaint (the formal procedure)
Step 1
Admissibility The first
thing the Committee does when it receives a complaint is decide whether
or not it will accept the complaint. A complaint which the Committee decides
to accept is called ‘admissible’ and a complaint which the Committee
decides not to accept is called ‘inadmissible’. In order
to make this decision the Committee checks that the complaint contains
the basic information required (see the section how
to submit a complaint). At this
point, the Committee may contact the sender of the complaint (the author)
to request further information. The Committee may also send the complaint
to the state concerned and ask for their comments concerning the admissibility
of the complaint. The state has 2 months to respond and the state’s
response is sent to the author of the complaint for their comments. The Committee
makes its decision on the admissibility of complaints at its meetings
which take place 3 times a year. However, if the complaint concerns an
alleged violation of the ICCPR which is about to take place, the
Committee can request the state concerned to take ‘interim measures’
to prevent the violation, before it decides on the question of admissibility
(see the section what this mechanism can
do to assist you). Given
that the Committee only meets 3 times a year and that states may be given
2 months to respond to the question of admissibility of complaints brought
against it, it can take 12 to 18 months for the Committee to decide
if a case is admissible. Step 2
Investigating a complaint Once
a complaint has been declared ‘admissible’ the state concerned
is given a further 6 months to send written information to the Committee
expressing its opinion on the complaint and describing any steps it may
have taken to remedy the violation. Any information
received from the state is sent by the Committee to the author of the
complaint. The author is then given 6 weeks to reply to the state’s
information. The Committee
then looks at all the written information it has received from the author
of the complaint and the state and makes a decision on the case. The Committee
cannot ask the author of the complaint or representatives of the state
to appear before it to present their case, nor can it visit a country
or place to investigate a complaint. Its decision is based only on the
written information it has received from the author and the state concerned. Step 3 The
Committee adopts its ‘views’ When the Committee’s investigations are completed the Committee can take a decision (called ‘views’) on the case. In its ‘views’, which are made public, the Committee can declare that the state concerned has violated the ICCPR. It can take 1 to 2 years for the Committee to adopts its ‘views’ on a case (see the section what this mechanism can do to assist you for further information about the Committee’s ‘views’). How to submit an individual complaintOnly a person claiming to be a victim
of a violation of the ICCPR or their representative. A representative
must show that they have a close connection with the victim, for example
a close relative. What can you complain about? Guidelines for submitting a complaint The Human Rights Committee has developed a Model Communication Form aimed at helping you to include all of the information relevant to your complaint which you may use if you wish. Use of this form is not compulsory. For a copy of the Model Communication Form click here. Use your browser's "back" button to return to this page. Complaints should be sent to:
Other important informationBefore submitting a complaint you
should read this section by clicking here Reservations lodged by a state
party Some states have lodged reservations
to the Optional Protocol the ICCPR. This basically means that some states
have sought to limit the right of individuals to submit complaints to
the Human Rights Committee. For instance, some states will not allow
the Committee to consider a complaint if that same complaint has already
been considered by another international mechanism (for example, the European
Court of Human Rights or the Inter-American Court on Human Rights). If
you wish to find out if the country you are interested in has lodged such
a reservation, you should contact the Human Rights Committee (see contact
details below). Have you already submitted your complaint to another treaty mechanism? If so you should read this section
by clicking here Further information
about the Human Rights Committee
For further information in English,
Espagnol and Français, visit the Webpage of the Human Rights Committee
by clicking
here
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