31/25 Measures taken to implement Human Rights Council resolution 9/8 and obstacles to its implementation, including recommendations for further improving the effectiveness of, harmonizing and reforming the treaty body system

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 2

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the

High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Measures taken to implement Human Rights Council resolution 9/8 and obstacles to its implementation, including recommendations for further improving the effectiveness of, harmonizing and reforming the treaty body system

Report of the Secretary-General

1. In its resolution 9/8, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to

report annually to the Council on measures taken to implement that resolution and on

obstacles to its implementation, including recommendations for further improving the

effectiveness of, harmonizing and reforming the treaty body system. The present report is

submitted pursuant to that request.

2. In its resolution 68/268, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to

submit to it, on a biennial basis, a comprehensive report on the status of the human rights

treaty body system and the progress achieved by the human rights treaty bodies in realizing

greater efficiency and effectiveness in their work, including the number of reports

submitted and reviewed by the committees, the visits undertaken and the individual

communications received and reviewed, where applicable, the state of the backlog,

capacity-building efforts and results achieved, as well as the situation in terms of

ratifications, increased reporting and the allocation of meeting time and proposals on

measures, including on the basis of information and observations from Member States, to

enhance the engagement of all State parties in the dialogue with the treaty bodies. The first

report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to resolution 68/268 will be submitted to

the Assembly in 2016.

3. Comprehensive information on the topics raised in Human Rights Council resolution

9/8 is available at the following websites:

• Ratification status by country or by treaty:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx

• Status of ratification maps:

http://indicators.ohchr.org/

United Nations A/HRC/31/25

General Assembly Distr.: General 17 December 2015

Original: English

• Reporting status to human rights treaty body:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Countries.aspx

• Timely, late and non-reporting to human rights treaty bodies:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/LateReporting.aspx

• Calendar of country reviews by treaty bodies:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/MasterCalendar.aspx

• Common core documents:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/CoreDocuments.aspx

• Treaty body database (search engine for treaty body documentation):

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/TBSearch.aspx

• Universal Human Rights Index (search engine for recommendations made by human

rights mechanisms):

http://uhri.ohchr.org

• Jurisprudence database:

http://juris.ohchr.org

4. The following documents also contain information on the issues raised in Human

Rights Council resolution 9/8:

• Note by the Secretariat on timely, late and non-reporting by States parties to the

human rights treaty bodies (HRI/MC/2015/5)

• Note by the Secretariat on implementation by treaty bodies of the conclusions and

recommendations of the treaty body chairpersons at their twenty-sixth meeting in the

framework of General Assembly resolution 68/268 (HRI/MC/2015/2)

• Reports on the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh meetings of the Chairs of the human

rights treaty bodies (A/69/285 and A/70/302)

• Report of the Secretary-General on measures taken to implement Human Rights

Council resolution 9/8 and obstacles to its implementation, including

recommendations for further improving the effectiveness, harmonization and reform

of the treaty body system (A/HRC/29/53)

• Note by the Secretariat providing an overview of the human rights treaty body

system and working methods related to the review of States parties (HRI/MC/2013/2

and Corr.1)

• Note by the Secretariat on other activities of the human rights treaty bodies and

participation of stakeholders in the human rights treaty body process

(HRI/MC/2013/3 and Corr.1)

5. Reference is also made to relevant information included in the session and to the

annual and biennial reports of the treaty bodies:

• Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 18

(A/70/18)

• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2015, Supplement No. 2

(E/2015/22-E/C.12/2014/3)

• Human Rights Committee

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 40

(A/70/40)

• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 38

(A/70/38)

• Committee against Torture

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 44

(A/70/44)

• Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment

CAT/C/54/2

• Committee on the Rights of the Child

Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 41

(A/69/41)

• Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of

Their Families

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 48

(A/70/48)

• Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 55

(A/70/55)

• Committee on Enforced Disappearances

Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 56

(A/70/56)

6. Further relevant information will be provided in the report of the Secretary-

General to be submitted to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session.