Twenty- eighth meeting of Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies

New York, 30 May-3 June 2016

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Reporting compliance by States parties to the treaty bodies

Timely, late and non-reporting by States parties to the human rights treaty bodies

Note by the Secretariat

Summary

At their twenty-fifth meeting, the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies decided to include the issue of reporting compliance by States parties to the treaty bodies as a standing item on the agenda of their annual meetings. The present note contains an overview of reporting compliance by States parties on 19 January 2016. Reporting is a dynamic process and the data included in this note is regularly updated on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org).

I.Background

States parties have an obligation to report periodically under the nine core international human rights treaties and two optional protocols:

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000)

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (2000)

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006).

The Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, at their twenty-fifth annual meeting, in May 2013, expressed deep concern over late reporting and non-reporting by a number of States parties to international human rights treaties. The Chairs decided to include the issue of late and non-reporting by States parties as a standing item on the agenda of the meeting (see A/68/334, para. 47). At their twenty-seventh meeting, in 2015, the Chairs requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to continue to make updated information on reporting compliance by States available on its website (see A/70/302, para. 93).

The present note contains an overview of reporting compliance by States parties as at 19 January 2016. Reporting is a dynamic process; the data included in the note are regularly updated on the OHCHR website.

II.Reporting obligations of States parties under international human rights treaties

Once a State has acceded to or ratified a human rights treaty, it is required to submit its initial report within one or two years after the treaty enters into force and, thereafter, periodic reports at intervals specified by the relevant treaty or committee. 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. The reporting periodicity, by treaty, is presented in table 1 below.

Table 1Reporting periodicity, by treaty

Treaty	Initial report due (following ratification) within	Periodic reports due thereafter every
ICERD	1 year	2 years
ICESCR	2 years	5 years
ICCPR	1 year	3,4,5 and6 years
CEDAW	1 year	4 years
CAT	1 year	4 years
CRC	2 years	5 years
ICRMW	1 year	5 years
OP-CRC-SC	2 years	With next report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child or 5 years if the State party has ratified the Optional Protocol only but not the Convention
OP-CRC-AC	2 years	With next report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child or 5 years if the State party has ratified the Optional Protocol only but not the Convention
CRPD	2 years	4 years
ICPPED	2 years	As requested by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (art. 29(4))

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 the Committee on Enforced Disappearances may, pursuant to article 29 (4) of the Convention, request States parties to provide additional information on the implementation of the Convention.

III.Reporting compliance by States parties as at 19 January 2016

A.States parties without overdue reports

As at 19 January 2016, 25 of the 197 States parties were fully compliant with their reporting obligations under the relevant international human rights treaties and protocols. This is the equivalent of 13 per cent of States parties. Five of these States parties had ratified five or fewer human rights instruments (see table 2).

Table 2States parties without overdue reports on 19 January 2016

State party	Number of ratifications or accessions to international human rights treaties and optional protocols with a reporting procedure	State party	Number of ratifications or accessions to international human rights treaties and optional protocols with a reporting procedure
Armenia	10	Rwanda	10
Azerbaijan	10	Slovakia	10
Bhutan	4	Sweden	9
Denmark	9	Thailand	9
Greece	10	The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	9
Holy See	5	Turkmenistan	9
Iraq	10	Ukraine	10
Italy	10	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	9
Kyrgyzstan	9	United States of America	5
Lithuania	10	Uruguay	11
Niue	1	Uzbekistan	8
Norway	9	South Sudan	3
Poland	9
Total: 2 5 States parties

B.Status of overdue reports, by State party

The number of overdue reports (initial and periodic) ranged from 1 to 10 per State party. One State party had 10 overdue reports; 2 States parties had 9 overdue reports; 7 States parties had 8 overdue reports; 11 States parties had 7 overdue reports; 17 States parties had 6 overdue reports; 17 States parties had 5 overdue reports; 19 States parties had 4 overdue reports; 33 States parties had 3 overdue reports; 34 States parties had 2 overdue reports and 31 States parties had 1 overdue report (see table 3).

Table 3Number of States parties with overdue reports as at 19 January 2016

Number of overdue reports	State s parties
10	Lesotho (1 State party)
9	Mali, Nigeria (2 States parties)
8	Belize, Cabo Verde, Libya, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Swaziland (7 States parties)
7	Afghanistan, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Syrian Arab Republic, Zambia (11 States parties)
6	Algeria, Bahrain, Benin, Brazil, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Guyana, Hungary, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Zimbabwe (17 States parties)
5	Bangladesh, Cambodia, Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Grenada, Guinea, Liberia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Niger, Tunisia, Uganda, Vanuatu (17 States parties)
4	Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, State of Palestine, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Yemen (19 States parties)
3	Albania, Angola, Comoros, Croatia, El Salvador, Gabon, Gambia, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania (33 States parties)
2	Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Montenegro, Netherlands, Palau, Samoa, Serbia, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam (34 States parties)
1	Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, Slovenia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (31 States parties)

In terms of overdue initial reports, 10 States parties had 6 reports pending; 4 States parties had 5 reports pending; 15 States parties had 4 reports pending; 18 States parties had 3 reports pending; 28 States parties had 2 reports pending; and 48 States parties had 1 report pending (see table 4).

Table 4Number of States parties with overdue initial reports, as at 19 January 2016

Number of overdue i nitial reports	States parties
6	Cabo Verde, Dominica, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Swaziland (10 States parties)
5	Bahrain, Belize, Grenada, Liberia (4 States parties)
4	Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Seychelles, State of Palestine, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu (15 States parties)
3	Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Botswana, Congo, Guinea, Guyana, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Namibia, Nauru, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Somalia, Zimbabwe (18 States parties)
2	Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Kiribati, Lebanon, Mauritius, Monaco, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Togo, Zambia (28 States parties)
1	Albania, Austria, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Japan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Palau, Peru, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen (48 States parties)

In terms of overdue periodic reports, 3 States parties had 6 reports pending; 6 States parties had 5 reports pending; 14 States parties had 4 reports pending; 26 States parties had 3 reports pending; 45 States parties had 2 reports pending; and 51 States parties had 1 report pending (see table 5).

Table 5Number of States parties with overdue periodic reports, as at 19 January 2016

Number of overdue periodic reports	States parties
6	Hungary, Nicaragua, Syrian Arab Republic (3 States parties)
5	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mauritius, Panama, Uganda, Zambia (6 States parties)
4	Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Chad, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malta, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia (14 States parties)
3	Barbados, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, El Salvador, Georgia, Guyana, India, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Solomon Islands, Yemen, Zimbabwe (26 States parties)
2	Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Congo, Croatia, Ecuador, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Montenegro, Mozambique, Netherlands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam (45 States parties)
1	Angola, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Comoros, Cook islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, New Zealand, Niger, Oman, Palau, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (51 States parties)

IV.Reporting status, by treaty, as at 19 January 2016

As at 19 January 2016, 611 reports (295 initial reports and 316 periodic reports) were overdue. This is the equivalent of 37 per cent of all reports to be submitted to the treaty bodies. The treaties with the highest proportion of States parties that were not complying with their reporting obligations or that were not complying in a timely manner were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (56 per cent), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (46 per cent), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (44 per cent) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (42 per cent) (see table 6).

With regard to initial reports that States parties are required to submit within one or two years after the treaty enters into force for that State, initial reports were overdue for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (70), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (48), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (47), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (29), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (28), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (19),the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (17), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (16), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (13), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (7) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1) (see table 6).

The treaties with the highest proportion of non-reporting States parties (overdue initial reports) were the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (41 per cent), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (33 per cent), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (30 per cent) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (29 per cent) (see table 6).

The treaties with the highest number of overdue periodic reports were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (84), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (58), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (44), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (44), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (41) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (39) (see table 6).

The treaties with the highest proportion of late reports (overdue periodic reports) were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (47 per cent), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (35 per cent) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (26 per cent) (see table 6).

Table 6Overdue reports, by treaty, on 19 January 2016

Treaty	N umber of States parties (a)	Overdue initial reports	Overdue periodic reports	Total number of overdue reports (percentage)
Number (b)	Percentage (b)÷(a)	Number (c)	Percentage (c) ¸ (a)
ICCPR	168	19	11 %	58	3 5 %	77 (46 % )
ICESCR	164	2 9	1 8 %	39	2 4 %	68 (4 2 % )
ICERD	177	16	9 %	8 4	4 7 %	10 0 (5 6 % )
CAT	158	2 8	1 8 %	4 1	26 %	69 (4 4 % )
CEDAW	189	7	4 %	44	2 3 %	51 (27 % )
CRC	196	1	1 %	44	2 2 %	4 5 (23 % )
OP- CRC- SC a	171	70	41 %	-	-	70 (4 1 % )
OP- CRC- AC a	162	48	30 %	-	-	48 (30 % )
ICRMW	48	1 3	2 7 %	6	13 %	1 9 ( 40 % )
CRPD	161	47	29 %	0	0 %	47 ( 29 % )
ICPPED b	51	1 7	3 3 %	-	-	1 7 (3 3 % )
Total	1 , 645	29 5	18 %	3 16	19 %	6 1 1 (3 7 % )

Note : The data in the table are based on original due dates. Several committees, however, have made it possible for States parties to use the simplified reporting procedure. States parties that have availed themselves of that procedure have been given new due dates.

a Pursuant to article 12 ( 2 ) of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and article 8 ( 2 ) of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict , following the submission of the comprehensive report, each State party shall include in the reports they submit to the Committee on the Rights of the Child , in accordance with article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, any further information regardi n g the implementation of the respective protocol .

b Although the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance does not provide for periodic reports, pursuant to article 29 ( 4 ) of the Convention, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances may request States parties to provide additional information on the implementation of the Convention.

Of the 296 overdue initial reports, 129 (44 per cent) were less than five years overdue, 63 reports (21 per cent) were between five and 10 years overdue and 104 reports (35 per cent) were more than 10 years overdue. Under the following treaties, more than 50 per cent of the overdue initial reports were more than 10 years overdue:International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (69 per cent), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (63 per cent), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (68 per cent), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (58 per cent), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (55 per cent) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (100 per cent) (see table 7).

Table 7Overdue initial reports, by length of time and treaty, on 19 January 2016

Treat y	Number of o verdue initial reports	Length of time
Number of reports less than 5 years overdue percentage)	Number of reports between 5 and 10 years overdue (percentage)	Number of reports more than 10 years overdue (percentage)
ICCPR	20	2 (1 0 % )	7 (3 5 % )	11 ( 55 % )
ICESCR	2 9	2 ( 7 % )	7 (2 4 % )	20 ( 69 % )
ICERD	16	4 (25 % )	2 (12 % )	10 (6 3 % )
CAT	2 8	8 ( 29 % )	1 ( 3 % )	19 (6 8 % )
CEDAW	7	1 (14 % )	2 (28 % )	4 (5 8 % )
CRC	1	0	0	1 (100 % )
OP- CRC-SC	70	29 (4 2 % )	20 (28 % )	21 (30 % )
OP- CRC - AC	48	22 (4 6 % )	13 (27 % )	13 (27 % )
ICRMW	1 3	4 ( 31 % )	4 ( 31 % )	5 ( 38 % )
CRPD	47	4 0 (8 5 % )	7 (1 5 % )	0
ICPPED	1 7	1 7 (100 % )	0	0
Total	29 6	1 29 (4 4 % )	6 3 (21 % )	10 4 (3 5 % )

Of the 316 overdue periodic reports, 176 (56 per cent) were less than 5 years overdue, 71 (22 per cent) were between 5 and 10 years overdue and 69 (22 per cent) were more than 10 years overdue. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights had the highest percentage of periodic reports overdue for more than 10 years (36 per cent), followed by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (28 per cent) (see table 8).

Table 8Overdue periodic reports, by length of time and treaty, as at 19 January 2016

Treaties	Number of o verdue periodic reports	Length of time
Number of reports less than 5 years overdue (percentage)	Number of reports between 5 and 10 years overdue (percentage)	Number of reports more than 10 years overdue (percentage)
ICCPR	58	2 6 ( 4 5 % )	11 ( 1 9 % )	21 (36 % )
ICESCR	39	1 7 ( 44 % )	14 ( 3 6 % )	8 (20 % )
ICERD	8 4	39 ( 4 6 % )	2 2 ( 2 6 % )	2 3 (2 8 % )
CAT	4 1	2 8 ( 6 8 % )	6 ( 1 5 % )	7 (17 % )
CEDAW	44	35 ( 80 % )	7 ( 16 % )	2 ( 4 % )
CRC	44	26 ( 59 % )	10 ( 23 % )	8 (18 % )
OP- CRC- AC a	-	-	-	-
OP- CRC- SC a	-	-	-	-
ICRMW	6	5 ( 83 % )	1 ( 17 % )	0
CRPD	0	0	0	0
ICPPED b	-	-	-	-
Total	3 16	1 76 (5 6 % )	7 1 (2 2 % )	6 9 (2 2 % )

a Pursuant to article 12 ( 2 ) of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and article 8 ( 2 ) of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict , following the submission of the comprehensive report, each State party shall include in the reports it submit s to the Committee on the Rights of the Child , in accordance with article  44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, any further information regarding the implementation of the respective p rotocol.

b Although the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance does not provide for periodic reports, pursuant to article 29 ( 4 ) of the Convention, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances may request States parties to provide additional information on the implementation of the Convention.