Indicator
Reporting compliance by State parties to the human rights treaty
bodies
Definition
The indicator refers to the compliance by a State party to its obligation
to submit treaty-specific reports periodically under the nine
international human rights treaties and two optional protocols.
Rationale
Once a State party has acceded or ratified a human rights treaty, it
assumes a legal obligation to report on the implementation of the rights
and standards enshrined in that treaty. The State is required to submit
an initial report within one or two years after the treaty enters into
force, and thereafter, periodic reports at interval specified by the
relevant treaty. The reporting system is an important tool for a State to
assess what it has achieved and what more it needs to do to promote
and protect human rights in the country. The reporting process should
encourage and facilitate, at the national level, public participation,
public scrutiny of State policies, laws and programmes, and
constructive engagement with civil society in a spirit of cooperation
and mutual respect, with the aim of advancing the enjoyment by all of
the rights protected by the relevant treaty. Some States incorporate
comments and criticism from NGOs in their reports; others submit
their reports to parliamentary scrutiny before submitting them to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations for consideration by the
relevant treaty body. This indicator is a process indicator in the
OHCHR methodology for human rights indicators (HR/PUB/12/5).
Method
computation
of The indicator is computed as the percentage of reports submitted on
time, by subtracting from 1 the number of overdue reports (both
initial and periodic) divided by the total number of treaties and
optional protocols with reporting obligations (11 in total) that a country
has ratified or acceded and multiplying it by 100.
The indicator ranges from 0% to 100%, the latter meaning full
compliance with the reporting obligations calendar. (A) is the number
of ratified treaties and optional protocols with reporting obligations and
(B)
is
the
number
of
overdue
reports.
Data collection The indicator is produced by OHCHR based on records of States’
submission of their national reports to the treaty bodies. Data on the
and source
reporting
process
is
regularly
updated
by
OHCHR,
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/SitePages/Home.aspx. Data on treaty
ratification/accession is based on data obtained from and regularly
updated by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which has the
mission to, inter alia, register and publish treaties, and to perform the
depositary
functions
of
the
Secretary-General
(https://treaties.un.org/).
Periodicity
The indicator is updated by OHCHR at least every six months.
Disaggregation
Not applicable.
Comments
limitations
and In most cases, the treaty explicitly sets out a timetable for the
submission of initial and periodic reports, commonly referred to as the
“reporting periodicity”, on the basis of the date of entry into force of
the treaty in the specific State party.
In the case of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, no specific periodicity is envisaged in the treaties. Article 40 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, however,
gives the Human Rights Committee discretion to decide when periodic
reports shall be submitted. The Committee requests that periodic
reports be submitted every three to six years following State party
review, depending on the situation. Article 17 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights gives the
Economic and Social Council discretion to establish the reporting
frequency for the Covenant. Pursuant to the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States
parties to that Convention must report every two years but are allowed
to merge two reports in one, which creates a de facto periodicity of
four years. Although the International Convention for the Protection of
All Persons from Enforced Disappearance does not provide for
periodic reports, pursuant to article 29, paragraph 4, of the
Convention, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances may request
States parties to provide additional information on the implementation
of the Convention, depending on their level of compliance with its
provisions. The reporting periodicity by treaty is presented below.
Reporting periodicity, by treaty
Treaty
Initial
report
due
reports
(following
ratification)Periodic
within
thereafter every
ICERD
1 year
2 years
ICESCR
2 years
5 years
ICCPR
1 year
3, 4, 5 and 6 years
CEDAW
1 year
4 years
CAT
1 year
4 years
CRC
2 years
5 years
ICRMW
1 year
5 years
CRC-OPSC
2 years
5 years or with next report to
the Committee on the Rights
of the Child
due
Treaty
Initial
report
due
(following
ratification)Periodic
reports
within
thereafter every
CRC-OPAC
2 years
5 years or with next report to
the Committee on the Rights
of the Child
CRPD
2 years
4 years
ICPPED
2 years
As
requested
by
the
Committee on Enforced
Disappearances (art. 29 (4))
due
The indicator captures to a certain extent the acceptance by a State of
international human rights standards and its intention or commitment to
undertake steps to realize human rights (structural indicator). It also
captures the actual implementation of the treaty and a states’
commitment to engage with the monitoring bodies (process indicator).
The indicator does not, however, capture the results (outcome indicator)
even though State reports might contain such information.
The reports must set out the legal, administrative and judicial measures
taken by the State to give effect to the treaty, and should also mention
any factors or difficulties encountered in implementing the rights. In
order to ensure that reports contain adequate information to allow the
committees to do their work, each committee issues guidelines on the
form and content of State reports.
State parties are encouraged to see the process of preparing their reports
for the treaty bodies not only as the fulfilment of an international
obligation, but also as an opportunity to take stock of the state of human
rights protection within their jurisdiction for the purpose of policy
planning and implementation. The preparation offers an occasion for
each State party to:
(a) Conduct a comprehensive review of the measures it has taken to
harmonize domestic law and policy with the provisions of the international human rights treaties to which it is a party;
(b) Monitor progress made in promoting the enjoyment of the rights set
forth in the treaties in the context of the promotion of human rights in
general;
(c) Identify problems and shortcomings in its approach to the
implementation of the treaties;
(d) Assess future needs and goals for more effective implementation of
the treaties; and
(e) Plan and develop appropriate policies to achieve these goals.
General comment No. 1 (1989) of the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights provides a full explanation on the objectives of
reporting.