Human Rights Assignment

1.
A reservation is a unilateral statement, however phrased or
named, made by a State, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding
to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or modify the legal effect of certain
provisions of the treaty in their application to that State.
A number of considerations would be relevant in respect of
the ratification of any treaty. States may have substantive interests that they dont
want to compromise when ratifying a treaty. Reservations may be the direct result
of a failure to bring legislation into conformity with convention standards.
Traditionally, reservations have been expressed to the dispute settlement clauses
and to provisions about the territorial application. Political problems have also lead
to reservations, such as the unacceptability of treaty relations with a particular
State.
2.
Under ratione temporis rule, claims may be brought against
States parties to human right treaties only when they relate to violations alleged to
have occurred after the entry into force of the treaty on the basis of which the
communication is filed as regards the defending state, or after the declaration of
the State concerned that it accepts that individual communications can be filed
against it.
3.
The international rule of exhaustion of local remedies before taking to
international remedies is one of the basic rules in international law. The object of
the rule is to enable the respondent State the first opportunity to correct the harm
and to make redress. The application of the rule of domestic remedies to the
protection of human rights depends on conventional provisions.
A person whose rights have been violated should make use of domestic remedies to
right a wrong, rather than first address the issue to an international committee,
court or other tribunal. Access to an international organ should be available, but
only as a last resort, after the domestic remedies have been exhausted. A person
should seek redress from domestic remedies because these are normally quicker,
cheaper and more effective than the international ones.
If no domestic remedies are available or there is unreasonable delay on the part of
national courts in granting a remedy, clearly, a person should have recourse to
international remedies. The rule of local remedies should not constitute an
unjustified impediment to access to the international remedies.
4.

5.
Against whom can a complaint under a treaty be brought?
A complaint under one of the four treaties can be brought only against a State that
satisfies two conditions:
The State must be a party to the treaty in question, having ratified or
otherwise accepted it.
The State party must have recognized the competence of the committee
established under the relevant treaty to consider complaints from individuals.
Who can bring a complaint?
Anyone can lodge a complaint with a committee against a State that satisfies
these two conditions, claiming that his or her rights under the relevant treaty
have been violated. It is not necessary to have a lawyer prepare your case,
though legal advice usually improves the quality of the submissions. Be
aware, however, that legal aid is not provided under the procedures. You may
also bring a claim on behalf of another person on condition that you obtain
his or her written consent. In certain cases, you may bring a case without
such consent.
What information do you need to provide in your complaint?
A complaint to a committee is sometimes also called a "communication" or a
"petition". It need not take any particular form; any correspondence supplying
the necessary particulars will suffice. Your claim should be in writing and
signed. [5] It should provide basic personal information - your name,
nationality and date of birth - and specify the State party against which your
complaint is directed. If you are bringing the claim on behalf of another
person, you should provide proof of their consent, as noted above, or state
clearly why such consent cannot be provided.
You should set out, in chronological order, all the facts on which your claim is based.
A crucial requirement is that your account is as complete as possible and that the
complaint contains all information relevant to your case. You should also detail the
steps you have taken to exhaust the remedies available in your country, that is
steps taken before your country's local courts and authorities. You should state
whether you have submitted your case to another means of international
investigation or settlement. On these two matters, see the section entitled "The
admissibility of your case" below for further important details. Lastly, you should
state why you consider that the facts you have outlined constitute a violation of the
treaty in question. It is helpful, though not strictly necessary, for you to identify the
articles of the treaty that have allegedly been violated. You should provide this
information in one of the secretariat's working languages.
In addition, you should supply all documents of relevance to your claims and
arguments, especially administrative or judicial decisions on your claim by national

authorities. It is also helpful if you provide copies of relevant national laws. If they
are not in an official language of the committee's secretariat, consideration of your
complaint will be speeded up if you can arrange for a translation (either full or
summary).
If your complaint lacks essential information, you will be contacted by the
secretariat with a request for the additional details.
Treaty body
HRC
(ICCPR-OP1)
CERD
CAT
CEDAW
CEDAW)
CMW
CRPD

Complaints procedure
First Optional Protocol to ICCPR
Article 14 of ICERD
Article 22 of CAT
Optional Protocol to CEDAW (OPArticle 77 of ICRMW
Optional Protocol to CRPD (OP-CPRD)

In order to submit an individual communication, it has to fulfil certain formal

criteria for admissibility, which are the procedural requirements that need to be
fulfilled in order to be able to submit the complaint.
It is not manifestly politically motivated and its object is consistent with the
Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other applicable instruments in the field of human rights law;

It gives a factual description of the alleged violations, including the rights

which are alleged to be violated;

Its language is not abusive. However, such a communication may be

considered if it meets the other criteria for admissibility after deletion of the
abusive language;

It is submitted by a person or a group of persons claiming to be the victims of

violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, or by any person or
group of persons, including non-governmental organizations, acting in good
faith in accordance with the principles of human rights, not resorting to
politically motivated stands contrary to the provisions of the Charter of the
United Nations and claiming to have direct and reliable knowledge of the
violations concerned. Nonetheless, reliably attested communications shall not
be inadmissible solely because the knowledge of the individual authors is
second-hand, provided that they are accompanied by clear evidence;

It is not exclusively based on reports disseminated by mass media;

It does not refer to a case that appears to reveal a consistent pattern of gross
and reliably attested violations of human rights already being dealt with by a
special procedure, a treaty body or other United Nations or similar regional
complaints procedure in the field of human rights;

Domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless it appears that such

remedies would be ineffective or unreasonably prolonged.