CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) States ’ reports under UN hr treaties: how to read overdue reports? system” 26 – an agreed position among the 10 treaty body chairpersons from July 2019. 27 A simplified reporting procedure will be offered to all States Parties for periodic reports in accordance with the position paper. Treaty bodies may also offer it for initial reports. Lists of issues prior to reporting (which form the basic building block of the simplified reporting procedure) will be coordinated among all treaty bodies to avoid substantively similar questions in the same period and will be limited to 25-30 questions. Further, “ a single consolidated report may be submitted to both Covenant Committees if they choose to offer this option to States parties. ” On the other hand, there are several aspects related to the reporting treated by relevant documents in various ways. The most visible ones are the different periods for submitting initial and subsequent reports (see Table 1). The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED) is the only document requesting only initial reports (Article 29). Reporting-related provisions are shorter and briefer in some documents (e. g., two paragraphs in the CEDAW) and more complex in others (e.g., two articles and ten paragraphs in the CRPD). The regime of reporting contained in the CRPD is very complex. It also includes a special provision on consequences of late reporting in Article 36 par. 2: “ If a State Party is significantly overdue in the submission of a report, the Committee may notify the State Party concerned of the need to examine the implementation of the present Convention in that State Party, on the basis of reliable information available to the Committee, if the relevant report is not submitted within three months following the notification .” Unlike the other treaties, the CRPD (in Article 35 par. 4) and the CRC (Article 44 par. 3) request expressly State Parties not the repeat information previously provided.

26 Treaty body Chairpersons Position Paper on the future of the treaty body system accessed 30 May 2021. 27 International Justice Resource Center. UN Treaty Bodies Announce New Measures to Synchronize Their Work. (11 July 2019) accessed 15 May 2021.

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