The United Nations Human Rights Treaties

A treaty body may adopt General Comments or Recommendations, which are official statements adopted by the Committee that elaborate on the meaning of treaty obligations. Some General Comments or Recommendations may be procedural in nature, others may address substantive provisions of the treaty and provide the Committee's interpretation of treaty rights.

CERD and CEDAW refer to these official statements as "General Recommendations" and CCPR, CESCR, CAT and CRC refer to them as "General Comments".