Thirtieth meeting of Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies

New York, 29 May-1 June 2018

Item 6 of the provisional agenda

R eporting compliance by States parties

Compliance by States parties with their reporting obligations to international 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 meeting. The present note contains an overview of the reporting compliance by States parties as at 31 December 2017. Reporting is a dynamic process and the data included in the present note is regularly updated on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org).

I.Background

1.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)

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

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) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

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

2.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 the international human rights treaties. The Chairs decided to include the issue 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).

3.The present note contains an overview of the reporting compliance by States parties as at 31 December 2017. 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

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

Table 1

Reporting 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, 6 or 7 years, as requested by the Committee a
CEDAW	1 year	4 years
CAT	1 year	4 years
CRC	2 years	5 years
OP-CRC-SC	2 years	With next report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or 5 years, if the State party has ratified the Optional Protocol only
OP-CRC-AC	2 years	With next report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or 5 years, if the State party has ratified the Optional Protocol only
ICRMW	1 year	5 years
CRPD	2 years	4 years
ICPPED	2 years	As requested by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (art. 29 (4))

a At its 114th session (2015), the Human Rights Committee decided, when determining the periodicity for future reports, that States submitting reports under the simplified reporting procedure would be given an extra year to do so compared to those submitting reports under the standard reporting procedure, with a view to ensuring fairness between States parties using the different procedures (see A/71/40, para. 75). Accordingly, the Committee may now ask States parties submitting reports under the simplified reporting procedure to submit their periodic reports at intervals of no more than seven years (i.e., the maximum six years allowed under the standard reporting procedure plus one extra year).

5.No specific periodicity is envisaged in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 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 consideration of the State party’s previous report, 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. Pursuant to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States parties must report every two years, but are allowed to merge two reports into one, which creates a de facto periodicity of four years. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance does not provide for periodic reports; however, 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 31 December 2017

A.Fully compliant States parties

6.As at 31 December 2017, 36 of the 197 States parties were fully compliant with their reporting obligations under the relevant international human rights treaties and protocols. That was equivalent to 18 per cent of States parties. The majority (22) of the States that were fully compliant had ratified 9 or 10 of the relevant human rights instruments; 4 had ratified 5 or fewer, and 4 had ratified all 11 (see table 2). The rate of full compliance is the same as that reported in 2017 (see HRI/MC/2017/2, table 2), but slightly greater than that reported in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the rate was 15 per cent (29 of 196 States); in 2016, it was 13 per cent (25 of 197 States (see HRI/MC/2015/5, para. 8, and HRI/MC/2016/2, para. 6).

Table 2

States parties that were fully compliant as at 31 December 2017

State party	Number of international human rights treaties and optional protocols with reporting procedures ratified or acceded to	State party	Number of international human rights treaties and optional protocols with reporting procedures ratified or acceded to
Angola	7	Mongolia	10
Argentina	11	Montenegro	10
Australia	9	Netherlands	10
Azerbaijan	10	New Zealand	9
Bhutan	4	Niue	1
Canada	9	Norway	9
China	8	Oman	6
Cook Islands	3	Qatar	7
Czechia	10	Russian Federation	9
Denmark	9	Saudi Arabia	7
Germany	10	Singapore	5
Guatemala	10	Spain	10
Honduras	11	Sweden	9
Iraq	10	Turkmenistan	9
Italy	10	Ukraine	10
Kuwait	9	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	9
Lithuania	10	Uruguay	11
Mexico	11	Uzbekistan	8
Total: 36 States parties

B.States parties with overdue reports

7.Overdue reports are initial or periodic reports that are expected but not received. As at 31 December 2017, 161 of 197 States parties (82 per cent) were overdue in submitting initial or periodic reports. The number of overdue reports per State party ranged from one to nine. Four States parties had nine overdue reports, 7 States parties had eight overdue reports, 11 States parties had seven overdue reports, 12 States parties had six overdue reports, 10 States parties had five overdue reports, 24 States parties had four overdue reports, 29 States parties had three overdue reports, 28 States parties had two overdue reports and 36 States parties had one overdue report (see table 3). The highest proportion of States parties with overdue reports — 56 per cent (91 States) — had between one and three initial or periodic reports overdue.

Table 3

States parties with overdue initial or periodic reports as at 31 December 2017

Number of overdue reports	States parties
9	Belize, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria (4 States parties)
8	Afghanistan, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Mozambique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino (7 States parties)
7	Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Seychelles, Swaziland, Togo, Zimbabwe, State of Palestine (11 States parties)
6	Cambodia, Chad, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Syrian Arab Republic, Zambia (12 States parties)
5	Bahamas, Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Jamaica, Malta, Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda (10 States parties)
4	Algeria, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Hungary, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Namibia, Romania, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen (24 States parties)
3	Andorra, Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Georgia, Guinea, Iceland, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mauritania, Micronesia (Federated States of), Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Senegal, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Viet Nam, South Sudan (29 States parties)
2	Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Greece, Haiti, Mauritius, Monaco, Myanmar, Nauru, Paraguay, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu (28 States parties)
1	Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Marshall Islands, Nepal, Palau, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Holy See (36 States parties)

8.As at 31 December 2017, 111 States parties were overdue in their submission of initial reports. Two States parties had seven reports pending, 8 States parties had six reports pending, 6 States parties had five reports pending, 4 States parties had four reports pending, 19 States parties had three reports pending, 29 States parties had two reports pending and 43 States parties had one report pending (see table 4). The highest proportion of States — 65 per cent (72 States) — had one or two initial reports overdue.

Table 4

States parties with overdue initial reports as at 31 December 2017

Number of overdue initial reports	States parties
7	Guinea-Bissau, State of Palestine (2 States parties)
6	Belize, Cabo Verde, Eritrea, Grenada, Lesotho, Mali, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino (8 States parties)
5	Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Seychelles, Swaziland (6 States parties)
4	Bahamas, Guyana, Liberia, Somalia (4 States parties)
3	Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Saint Lucia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Zimbabwe, South Sudan (19 States parties)
2	Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Niger, Pakistan, Panama, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Vanuatu, Zambia (29 States parties)
1	Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kenya, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malta, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Morocco, Myanmar, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam, Yemen (43 States parties)

9.As at 31 December 2017, 142 States parties had overdue periodic reports. One State party had six reports pending, 6 States parties had five reports pending, 15 States parties had four reports pending, 25 States parties had three reports pending, 34 States parties had two reports pending, and 61 States parties had one report pending (see table 5). The highest proportion of States — 66 per cent (95 States) — had either one or two periodic reports overdue.

Table 5

States parties with overdue periodic reports as at 31 December 2017

Number of overdue periodic reports	States parties
6	Nicaragua (1 State party)
5	Afghanistan, Brazil, Libya, Mozambique, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda (6 States parties)
4	Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Cambodia, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guyana, Hungary, Indonesia, Malta, Nigeria, Panama, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia, Zimbabwe (15 States parties)
3	Algeria, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Iceland, India, Latvia, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Senegal, Tunisia, Turkey, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen (25 States parties)
2	Albania, Andorra, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jamaica, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam (34 States parties)
1	Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, France, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mauritania, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Holy See (61 States parties)

IV.Reporting status, by treaty, as at 31 December 2017

10.As at 31 December 2017, 575 reports (266 initial reports and 309 periodic reports) from 161 States parties were overdue. 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 (51 per cent), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (43 per cent) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (41 per cent) (see table 6).

11.Initial reports, which States parties are required to submit within one or two years following the entry into force of the treaty for the State, 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 (61), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (52), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (43), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (27), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (27), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (15), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (15), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (14), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (4), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (4) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (4) (see table 6).

12.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 (35 per cent), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (29 per cent), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (26 per cent) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (26 per cent) (see table 6).

13.The treaties with the highest number of overdue periodic reports were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (77), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (51) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (50) (see table 6).

14.The treaties with the highest proportion of overdue periodic reports were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (43 per cent), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (30 per cent) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (26 per cent) (see table 6).

Table 6

Overdue reports, by treaty, as at 31 December 2017

Treaty	Number of States parties (a)	Overdue initial reports	Overdue periodic reports	Total number of overdue reports/percentage
Number of overdue reports(b)	Percentage (b)÷(a)	Number of overdue reports(c)	Percentage (c) ¸ (a)
ICCPR	169	15	9	51	30	66 (39%)
ICESCR	166	27	16	42	25	69 (41%)
ICERD	179	14	8	77	43	91 (51%)
CAT	162	27	17	43	26	70 (43%)
CEDAW	189	4	2	45	24	49 (26%)
CRC	196	4	2	50	25	54 (27%)
OP-CRC- SC a	174	61	35	0	0	61 (35%)
OP-CRC- AC a	167	43	26	0	0	43 (26%)
ICRMW	51	4	20	1	14	5 (10%)
CRPD	176	52	29	0	0	52 (29%)
ICPPED b	58	15	26	N/A	N/A	15 (26%)
Total		266		309		575

Note : The data in the table are based on original due dates. However, States parties that have opted to use the simplified reporting procedure have been assigned new due dates.

a Pursuant to article 12 (2) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and article 8 (2) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, following the submission of the comprehensive initial report, each State party is to include in the periodic reports submitted 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 protocol; this does not apply if a State party to one or more of the Optional Protocols has not ratified the Convention itself.

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

15.Of the 266 overdue initial reports, 113 (42 per cent) were less than 5 years overdue, 50 (19 per cent) were between 5 and 10 years overdue and 103 (39 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: the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (78 per cent), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (75 per cent), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (67 per cent), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (60 per cent) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (59 per cent) (see table 7).

Table 7

Overdue initial reports, by length of time and treaty, as at 31 December 2017

Treaty	Number of overdue 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 repor ts more than 10 years overdue /percentage
ICCPR	15	1 (7%)	5 (33%)	9 (60%)
ICESCR	27	4 (15%)	5 (18%)	18 (67%)
ICERD	14	2 (14%)	1 (7%)	11 (78%)
CAT	27	10 (37%)	1 (4%)	16 (59%)
CEDAW	4	1 (25%)	0	3 (75%)
CRC	4	3 (75%)	0	1 (25%)
OP-CRC-SC	61	20 (33%)	15 (24%)	26 (43%)
OP-CRC-AC	43	18 (42%)	6 (14%)	19 (44%)
ICRMW	4	4 (100%)	0	0
CRPD	52	35 (67%)	17 (33%)	0
ICPPED	15	15 (100%)	0	0
Total	266	113	50	103

16.Of the 309 overdue periodic reports, 167 (54 per cent) were less than 5 years overdue, 73 (24 per cent) were between 5 and 10 years overdue and 69 (22 per cent) were more than 10 years overdue. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination had the highest percentage of periodic reports overdue for more than 10 years (36 per cent), followed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (31 per cent) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (31 per cent) (see table 8).

Table 8

Overdue periodic reports, by length of time and treaty, as at 31 December 2017

Treaties	Number of overdue 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	51	23 (45%)	12 (23%)	16 (31%)
ICESCR	42	17 (40%)	12 (28%)	13 (31%)
ICERD	77	31 (40%)	18 (23%)	28 (36%)
CAT	43	26 (60%)	12 (28%)	5 (12%)
CEDAW	45	40 (89%)	3 (7%)	2 (4%)
CRC	50	30 (60%)	15 (30%)	5 (10%)
OP-CRC- AC a	0	0	0	0
OP-CRC- SC a	0	0	0	0
ICRMW	1	0	1 (100%)	0
CRPD	0	0	0	0
ICPPED b	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	309	167	73	69

a Pursuant to article 12 (2) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and article 8 (2) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, following the submission of the comprehensive initial report, each State party is to include in the periodic reports submitted 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 protocol; this does not apply if a State party to one or more of the Optional Protocols has not ratified the Convention itself.

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