Fourteenth meeting of chairpersons
of the human rights treaty bodies
Geneva, 24-26 June 2002
Item 9 of the provisional agenda

Note by the secretariat

Under agenda item 9, the chairpersons of treaty bodies will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with representatives of States on the functioning of the treaty bodies. The general topic proposed for that dialogue is the treaty bodies' methods of work relating to the State reporting process. The present document contains suggestions by States for more specific topics of discussion, within that broad subject.

1. Chile's views on this matter can be summarized in general terms as follows:

(a) Interest in strengthening the treaty body system. The aim is to modify the administrative procedures of the treaty bodies to enhance their effectiveness in accomplishing the task of protecting and promoting human rights, but not to undertake a reform of the system that affects its basic features.

(b) In this light, the issues of most concern as regards the effectiveness of the current system are:

- The lack of coordination between the various committees, which results in discrepancies in the procedures established by them to ensure compliance by States parties with the obligation to submit periodic reports. This applies, in particular, to the "guidelines" they prepare on the form and contents of reports, some of which are very detailed and extensive and others very general; the absence of a uniform criterion on the length of reports; the lack of clear guidance to avoid repetition of the background information provided by States in their periodic reports to the different committees;
- The issuance by the committees of recommendations that are sometimes too specific and pressing, making it difficult for the States parties to take steps accordingly; and the absence of rules for setting priorities on matters that the committees see as requiring more urgent attention by the States parties;
- The differing status of the experts serving on the committees;
- The need for the committees to put forward a common solution rapidly to deal with the current backlog of outstanding reports and the delay in holding meetings to consider them.


II. VIEWS ON THE TOPICS LISTED IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE PAPER TO BE CONSIDERED
AT THE INTER-COMMITTEE MEETING

A. Scheduling of reports

2. Coordinated scheduling would be appropriate, for all the committees, of the meetings planned to consider reports under the various conventions, so as to avoid overburdening States with the task of preparing more than two annual submissions.

B. Periodicity of reporting/acceptance of combined reports

3. The periodicity of reporting under the respective treaties (usually four years) is actually disrupted both by the failure of States parties to submit their reports within the deadlines set by the committees, and also by the length of time taken by the committees in arranging for meetings to consider these reports. The committees should all agree on a uniform solution to the problem of the shortening and even merging of the time frames for the dispatch of consecutive reports from States parties.

4. To deal with the situation of States parties' late reporting, the committees should all standardize on the practice followed by some of them to accept consolidated reports.

C. Designation of a country rapporteur

5. With a view to maintaining the transparency of the procedure, notification of the identity of the country rapporteur is to be recommended.

D. Information from other sources

6. For the same reason as above, the identity of other sources of information should be disclosed.

E. Pre-sessional working groups and lists of issues

7. A determination should be made as to whether these contribute to more flexible and efficient work by the committees, while ensuring that they do not result in preconceived views being adopted with regard to the country under consideration.

F. Helping States parties prepare for the dialogue

8. It would be useful to establish a practice of helping States parties, prior to the dialogue with the members of the committees, in the publication of their reports, so that they are better placed to proceed further in this regard.


H. Examination of States parties' reports

9. The most important point raised under this item is that of structuring the dialogue by setting an order of priorities for the issues to be examined. Focusing the dialogue on those aspects considered most relevant by the committee enables the members of the State party's delegation to arrange to provide the background information and make better use of the limited time available for them to set out their views. This would likewise avoid the repetition of questions on one and the same topic by different members of the committee, which at times unnecessarily prolongs the dialogue.

10. It would not be appropriate either to reduce the current duration of meetings for the consideration of reports or to have them last for more than one day.

11. The designation of a person to summarize the dialogue held between the members of the committee and the representatives of the State party could help to ensure that the latter are more immediately informed of the appreciation given to the replies provided to the committee, as long as this practice does not take away time from the dialogue between the actors mentioned.

12. Work in chambers may be beneficial in helping to clear the current backlog of outstanding reports, provided that an appropriate regional, ethnic and gender balance is maintained in the composition of members serving in chambers.

I. Concluding observations and comments

13. Significant progress would be made at this stage by structuring the document containing the concluding observations according to an order of priorities for the matters that the committees see as requiring more urgent attention by the States parties; ensuring the confidential transmittal of these observations to the States parties before they are made public, which is not always the practice; and explicitly providing the opportunity for States parties, within a limited period after receipt of the document containing the concluding observations, to submit comments to the committees on matters of form and any errors or misunderstandings from which this document may suffer.