Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Guidelines on third-party interventions with regard to communications submitted under the Optional Protocol to the Convention * , * *

I.Introduction

1.Pursuant to rule 72 (3) of the Committee’s rules of procedure,the Committee, or the special rapporteur on new communications and interim measures or the working group on communications, acting on behalf of the Committee, may, at any time in the course of the examination of a communication, accept submissions from third parties with regard to the communication. The Committee may establish guidelines on third-party submissions. The Committee will forward third-party submissions to the parties to the communication, who are entitled to submit written observations and comments in reply within a fixed time limit. Individuals or entities that are third parties will not be considered parties to the communication.

2.Third-party interventions should not focus on the facts and/or allegations in the case. Interventions challenging the facts and/or allegations presented by the parties to the communication or presenting new allegations will not be considered by the Committee.

II.Procedure for third-party interventions

3.Unless the Committee decides on its own initiative to request a third‑party intervention, a third party wishing to make an intervention should submit a request to the Committee through the Petitions Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at ohchr-petitions@un.org. The request should contain a brief description of the person or entity submitting the request, the number of the communication concerned and the object and purpose of the intervention. The request should be as brief as possible and not exceed one page.

4.If the Committee, or the special rapporteur on new communications and interim measures or the working group on communications, acting on behalf of the Committee, grants the request, it will invite the third party to submit the intervention within a specific time frame. The Committee may also invite the third party to focus on specific issues that it deems relevant. The intervention should not exceed 7,000 words.

5.The Committee will publish and regularly update a list of pending cases, including a brief summary of their contents. Third parties should use this information when preparing an intervention.

6.When a third party so requests, the PetitionsSection will, with the prior written consent of each of the authors or their representatives, put the third party in contact with the authors or their representatives, who may agree to share any relevant documents contained in the file.

7.Third-party interventions should be submitted in writing in one of the Committee’s working languages, preferably the official language of the State party against which the communication is addressed, when that language is a working language of the Committee.

8.When third parties have access to the case file, they may not disclose any information contained therein, including in its own or in any of the parties’ submissions, while the communication is pending before the Committee.

9.If any of the conditions established in the present guidelines are not complied with, the Committee may decide not to consider the third party’s submission.

10.The Committee will forward third-party submissions to both parties to the communication, who will be invited to submit, within one month, any written observations and comments thereon.

11.The Committee may, as it deems appropriate, refer to third-party submissions and the parties’ observations and comments thereon in its decisions or Views. The Committee will not refer to any submissions that it deems irrelevant to its consideration of the communications in question, that contain offensive language or that otherwise do not comply with the conditions established in the present guidelines.

12.Third parties may publish their submissions after the Committee’s decisions or Views have been made public, without disclosing the identity of the authors and/or victims.

13.Decisions or Views in which the Committee refers to third-party submissions will be transmitted to the third parties concerned upon adoption.