Rules of Procedure of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Concerning Communications

HRI/GEN/3/Rev.3 (23 May 2008)

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Part three: Rules of procedure for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

XVI. Procedures for the consideration of communications received under the Optional Protocol

Transmission of Communications to the Committee

Rule 56

1. The Secretary-General shall bring to the attention of the Committee, in accordance with the present rules, communications that are, or appear to be, submitted for consideration by the Committee under article 2 of the Optional Protocol.

2. The Secretary-General may request clarification from the author or authors of a communication as to whether she, he or they wish to have the communication submitted to the Committee for consideration under the Optional Protocol. Where there is doubt as to the wish of the author or authors, the Secretary-General will bring the communication to the attention of the Committee.

3. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it:

(a) Concerns a State that is not a party to the Protocol;

(b) Is not in writing;

List and register of communications

Rule 57

1. The Secretary-General shall maintain a permanent register of all communications submitted for consideration by the Committee under article 2 of the Optional Protocol.

2. The Secretary-General shall prepare lists of the communications submitted to the Committee, together with a brief summary of their contents.

Request for clarification or additional information

Rule 58

1. The Secretary-General may request clarification from the author of a communication, including:

(a) The name, address, date of birth and occupation of the victim and verification of the victim’s identity;

(b) The name of the State party against which the communication is directed;

(d) The facts of the claim;

(e) Steps taken by the author and/or victim to exhaust domestic remedies;

(f) The extent to which the same matter is being or has been examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement;

(g) The provision or provisions of the Convention alleged to have been violated.

2. When requesting clarification or information, the Secretary-General shall indicate to the author or authors of the communication a time limit within which such information is to be submitted.

3. The Committee may approve a questionnaire to facilitate requests for clarification or information from the victim and/or author of a communication.

4. A request for clarification or information shall not preclude the inclusion of the communication in the list provided for in rule 57 above.

5. The Secretary-General shall inform the author of a communication of the procedure that will be followed and in particular that, provided that the individual or individuals consent to the disclosure of her identity to the State party concerned, the communication will be brought confidentially to the attention of that State party.

Summary of information

Rule 59

1. A summary of the relevant information obtained with respect to each registered communication shall be prepared and circulated to the members of the Committee by the Secretary-General at the next regular session of the Committee.

2. The full text of any communication brought to the attention of the Committee shall be made available to any member of the Committee upon that member’s request.

Inability of a member to take part in the examination of a communication

Rule 60

1. A member of the Committee shall not take part in the examination of a communication if:

(a) The member has a personal interest in the case;

(b) The member has participated in the making of any decision on the case covered by the communication in any capacity other than under the procedures applicable to this Optional Protocol;

2. Any question that may arise under paragraph 1 above shall be decided by the Committee without the participation of the member concerned.

Withdrawal of a member

Rule 61

If, for any reason, a member considers that she or he should not take part or continue to take part in the examination of a communication, the member shall inform the Chairperson of her or his withdrawal.

Establishment of working groups and designation of rapporteurs

Rule 62

1. The Committee may establish one or more working groups, each comprising no more than five of its members, and may designate one or more rapporteurs to make recommendations to the Committee and to assist it in any manner in which the Committee may decide.

2. In the present part of the rules, reference to a working group or rapporteur is a reference to a working group or rapporteur established under the present rules.

3. The rules of procedure of the Committee shall apply as far as possible to the meetings of its working groups.

Interim measures

Rule 63

1. At any time after the receipt of a communication and before a determination on the merits has been reached, the Committee may transmit to the State party concerned, for its urgent consideration, a request that it take such interim measures as the Committee considers necessary to avoid irreparable damage to the victim or victims of the alleged violation.

2. A working group may also request the State party concerned to take such interim measures as the working group considers necessary to avoid irreparable damage to the victim or victims of the alleged violation.

3. When a request for interim measures is made by a working group or rapporteur under the present rule, the working group shall forthwith thereafter inform the Committee members of the nature of the request and the communication to which the request relates.

4. Where the Committee or a working group requests interim measures under this rule, the request shall state that it does not imply a determination of the merits of the communication.

Method of dealing with communications

Rule 64

1. The Committee shall, by a simple majority and in accordance with the following rules, decide whether the communication is admissible or inadmissible under the Optional Protocol.

2. A working group may also declare that a communication is admissible under the Optional Protocol, provided that all members eligible to participate so decide.

Order of communications

Rule 65

1. Communications shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received by the Secretariat, unless the Committee or a working group decides otherwise.

2. The Committee may decide to consider two or more communications jointly.

Separate consideration of admissibility and merits

Rule 66

The Committee may decide to consider the question of admissibility of a communication and the merits of a communication separately.

Conditions of admissibility of communications

Rule 67

With a view to reaching a decision on the admissibility of a communication, the Committee, or a working group, shall apply the criteria set forth in articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Optional Protocol.

Authors of communications

Rule 68

1. Communications may be submitted by individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be victims of violations of the rights set forth in the Convention, or by their designated representatives, or by others on behalf of an alleged victim where the alleged victim consents.

2. In cases where the author can justify such action, communications may be submitted on behalf of an alleged victim without her consent.

3. Where an author seeks to submit a communication in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present rule, she or he shall provide written reasons justifying such action.

Procedures with regard to communications received

Rule 69

1. As soon as possible after the communication has been received, and provided that the individual or group of individuals consent to the disclosure of their identity to the State party concerned, the Committee, working group or rapporteur shall bring the communication confidentially to the attention of the State party and shall request that State party to submit a written reply to the communication.

2. Any request made in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present rule shall include a statement indicating that such a request does not imply that any decision has been reached on the question of admissibility of the communication.

3. Within six months after receipt of the Committee’s request under the present rule, the State party shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements that relate to the admissibility of the communication and its merits, as well as to any remedy that may have been provided in the matter.

4. The Committee, working group or rapporteur may request written explanations or statements that relate only to the admissibility of a communication but, in such cases, the State party may nonetheless submit written explanations or statements that relate to both the admissibility and the merits of a communication, provided that such written explanations or statements are submitted within six months of the Committee’s request.

5. A State party that has received a request for a written reply in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present rule may submit a request in writing that the communication be rejected as inadmissible, setting out the grounds for such inadmissibility, provided that such a request is submitted to the Committee within two months of the request made under paragraph 1.

6. If the State party concerned disputes the contention of the author or authors, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol, that all available domestic remedies have been exhausted, the State party shall give details of the remedies available to the alleged victim or victims in the particular circumstances of the case.

7. Submission by the State party of a request in accordance with paragraph 5 of the present rule shall not affect the period of six months given to the State party to submit its written explanations or statements unless the Committee, working group or rapporteur decides to extend the time for submission for such a period as the Committee considers appropriate.

8. The Committee, working group or rapporteur may request the State party or the author of the communication to submit, within fixed time limits, additional written explanations or statements relevant to the issues of the admissibility or merits of a communication.

9. The Committee, working group or rapporteur shall transmit to each party the submissions made by the other party pursuant to the present rule and shall afford each party an opportunity to comment on those submissions within fixed time limits.

Inadmissible communications

Rule 70

1. Where the Committee decides that a communication is inadmissible, it shall, as soon as possible, communicate its decision and the reasons for that decision through the Secretary-General to the author of the communication and to the State party concerned.

2. A decision of the Committee declaring a communication inadmissible may be reviewed by the Committee upon receipt of a written request submitted by or on behalf of the author or authors of the communication, containing information indicating that the reasons for inadmissibility no longer apply.

3. Any member of the Committee who has participated in the decision regarding admissibility may request that a summary of her or his individual opinion be appended to the Committee’s decision declaring a communication inadmissible.

Additional procedures whereby admissibility may be considered separately from the merits

Rule 71

1. Where the issue of admissibility is decided by the Committee or a working group before the State party’s written explanations or statements on the merits of the communication are received, that decision and all other relevant information shall be submitted through the Secretary-General to the State party concerned. The author of the communication shall, through the Secretary-General, be informed of the decision.

2. The Committee may revoke its decision that a communication is admissible in the light of any explanation or statements submitted by the State party.

Views of the Committee on admissible communications

Rule 72

1. Where the parties have submitted information relating both to the admissibility and to the merits of a communication, or where a decision on admissibility has already been taken and the parties have submitted information on the merits of that communication, the Committee shall consider and shall formulate its Views on the communication in the light of all written information made available to it by the author or authors of the communication and the State party concerned, provided that this information has been transmitted to the other party concerned.

2. The Committee or the working group set up by it to consider a communication may, at any time in the course of the examination, obtain through the Secretary-General any documentation from organizations in the United Nations system or other bodies that may assist in the disposal of the communication, provided that the Committee shall afford each party an opportunity to comment on such documentation or information within fixed time limits.

3. The Committee may refer any communication to a working group to make recommendations to the Committee on the merits of the communication.

4. The Committee shall not decide on the merits of the communication without having considered the applicability of all of the admissibility grounds referred to in articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Optional Protocol.

5. The Secretary-General shall transmit the Views of the Committee, determined by a simple majority, together with any recommendations, to the author or authors of the communication and to the State party concerned.

6. Any member of the Committee who has participated in the decision may request that a summary of her or his individual opinion be appended to the Committee’s Views.

Follow-up to the Views of the Committee

Rule 73

1. Within six months of the Committee’s issuing its Views on a communication, the State party concerned shall submit to the Committee a written response, including any information on any action taken in the light of the Views and recommendations of the Committee.

2. After the six-month period referred to in paragraph 1 of the present rule, the Committee may invite the State party concerned to submit further information about any measures the State party has taken in response to its Views or recommendations.

3. The Committee may request the State party to include information on any action taken in response to its Views or recommendations in its subsequent reports under article 18 of the Convention.

4. The Committee shall designate for follow-up on Views adopted under article 7 of the Optional Protocol a rapporteur or working group to ascertain the measures taken by States parties to give effect to the Committee’s Views and recommendations.

5. The rapporteur or working group may make such contacts and take such action as may be appropriate for the due performance of their assigned functions and shall make such recommendations for further action by the Committee as may be necessary.

6. The rapporteur or working group shall report to the Committee on follow-up activities on a regular basis.

7. The Committee shall include information on any follow-up activities in its annual report under article 21 of the Convention.

Confidentiality of communications

Rule 74

1. Communications submitted under the Optional Protocol shall be examined by the Committee, working group or rapporteur in closed meetings.

2. All working documents prepared by the Secretariat for the Committee, working group or rapporteur, including summaries of communications prepared prior to registration and the list of summaries of communications, shall be confidential unless the Committee decides otherwise.

3. The Committee, working group or rapporteur shall not make public any communication, submissions or information relating to a communication prior to the date on which its Views are issued.

4. The author or authors of a communication or the individuals who are alleged to be the victim or victims of a violation of the rights set forth in the Convention may request that the names and identifying details of the alleged victim or victims (or any of them) not be published.

5. If the Committee, working group or rapporteur so decides, the name or names and identifying details of the author or authors of a communication or the individuals who are alleged to be the victim or victims of a violation of rights set forth in the Convention shall not be made public by the Committee, the author or the State party concerned.

6. The Committee, working group or rapporteur may request the author of a communication or the State party concerned to keep confidential the whole or part of any submission or information relating to the proceedings.

7. Subject to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the present rule, nothing in this rule shall affect the right of the author or authors or the State party concerned to make public any submission or information bearing on the proceedings.

8. Subject to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the present rule, the Committee’s decisions on admissibility, merits and discontinuance shall be made public.

9. The Secretariat shall be responsible for the distribution of the Committee’s final decisions to the author or authors and the State party concerned.

10. The Committee shall include in its annual report under article 21 of the Convention a summary of the communications examined and, where appropriate, a summary of the explanations and statements of the States parties concerned, and of its own suggestions and recommendations.

11. Unless the Committee decides otherwise, information furnished by the parties in follow-up to the Committee’s Views and recommendations under paragraphs 4 and 5 of article 7 of the Optional Protocol shall not be confidential. Unless the Committee decides otherwise, decisions of the Committee with regard to follow-up activities shall not be confidential.

Communiqués

Rule 75

The Committee may issue communiqués regarding its activities under articles 1 to 7 of the Optional Protocol, through the Secretary-General, for the use of the information media and the general public.

The United Nations Human Rights Treaties

Rules of Procedure of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Concerning Communications