Towards a Strong System of Supervision: The Human Rights Committee's Role in Reforming the Reporting Procedure under Article 40 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

In: Human rights quarterly: a comparative and international journal of the social sciences, humanities, and law, Band 17, Heft 4, S. 766-793

Abstract

The assets & weakness of Article 40 of the UN Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (CCPR) are examined. Article 40 is concerned with the supervision of state behavior in relation to international human rights law & generally is limited in its loose restrictions on state participation. States must agree to comply, while initial & ongoing cooperation are voluntary & sanctions for noncompliance are ineffective. A history of this reporting procedure is presented, emphasizing how policies not initially intended to have a major role in institutional supervision were transformed into their current status. However, this shift has initiated two important trends in insuring human rights: special reports in exceptional circumstances of abuse or crime are now requested & decisions regarding actions are conducted through consensus review. It is concluded that the CCPR has generally expanded its activities in reporting procedures, which have strengthened its supervisory role in international human rights, though further revisions of policy will be inevitable. 1 Appendix. J. MacDowell