Thirty-first meeting of Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies

New York, 24–28 June 2019

Item 2 of the provisional agenda

A doption of the agenda and organization of work

Provisional agenda and annotations

Provisional agenda

1.Election of officers.

2.Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.

3.General Assembly review of the treaty body system in 2020.

4.Reporting compliance by States parties.

5.Implementation by the treaty bodies of the Guidelines against Intimidation or Reprisals (the San José Guidelines), with a particular focus on the role of focal points and rapporteurs.

6.Implementation by the treaty bodies of the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (the Addis Ababa guidelines).

7.Progress made on the alignment of working methods and practices of the treaty bodies, including with regard to the simplified reporting procedure.

8.Modalities and organization of future meetings of Chairs and other intersessional activities.

9.Any other business.

10.Adoption of the report on the thirty-first meeting.

Annotations

1.Election of officers

The meeting will take place in New York, as decided by the Chairs at their thirtieth meeting (A/73/140, para. 87), subject to available resources. It is expected that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will make opening remarks, subject to availability. The Chair and Vice-Chair will be elected at the opening of the meeting on 24 June 2019, on the basis of the principle of rotation of Chairs.

2.Adoption of the agenda and organization of work

The meeting will be held pursuant to General Assembly resolution 49/178 on the effective implementation of international instruments on human rights, including reporting obligations under international instruments on human rights.

The Chairs will adopt the agenda based on the provisional agenda contained in the present document. They will also adopt the draft programme of work and consider any organizational matters.

3.General Assembly review of the treaty body system in 2020

Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/268 (para. 41), the Chairs decided to give priority to consideration of the review of the treaty body system and the elaboration of a common vision for the future (A/73/140, para. 85). They will discuss the latest developments, initiatives and proposals by treaty bodies, States, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and others on the 2020 review. Each treaty body has appointed one or more focal points to facilitate the discussion and to engage in intersessional dialogue. The Chairs will consider proposals made by each treaty body, based on the work of their respective focal points and on sessional and intersessional discussions.

In its resolution 68/268, the General Assembly encouraged the human rights treaty bodies to strengthen the possibilities for interaction during the annual meetings of the Chairs of the treaty bodies with States parties to all human rights treaties, with a view to ensuring a forum for an open and formal interactive dialogue (para. 39). The Chairs will hold consultations with States parties. In addition, the Chairs will exchange with senior United Nations officials, United Nations agencies, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations.

4.Reporting compliance by States parties

The Chairs will discuss reporting compliance by States parties, based on information provided in an online format only, as requested at their previous meeting (A/73/140, para. 71). They will review figures and trends and will discuss possible action.

5.Implementation by the treaty bodies of the Guidelines against Intimidation or Reprisals (the San José Guidelines), with a particular focus on the role of focal points and rapporteurs

The Chairs will discuss the role of focal points and rapporteurs on reprisals and will take stock of good practices by treaty bodies in addressing reprisals against individuals cooperating with them, in accordance with the document prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the current role of focal points and rapporteurs and an overview of good practices in addressing allegations of intimidation and reprisals (HRI/MC/2019/2), as was requested by the Chairs at their previous meeting (A/73/140, para. 86 (a)).

6.Implementation by the treaty bodies of the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (the Addis Ababa guidelines)

At their twenty-fourth meeting, held in June 2012, the Chairs endorsed the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (the Addis Ababa guidelines) and strongly recommended that they be promptly adopted by the respective treaty bodies.

In paragraphs 36 and 37 of its resolution 68/268, the General Assembly encouraged the treaty bodies to implement the Addis Ababa guidelines in accordance with their mandates, and invited the Chairs to keep States parties updated on their implementation.

The Chairs will take stock of the implementation by treaty bodies of the Addis Ababa guidelines and discuss issues related to accountability in the discharge of their functions.

7.Progress made on the alignment of working methods and practices of the treaty bodies, including with regard to the simplified reporting procedure

With a view to further aligning their working methods and practices, the Chairs will discuss the efforts that each treaty body has made in this regard in response to General Assembly resolution 68/268. More specifically, the Chairs will hold a discussion on possible elements of an aligned simplified reporting procedure, based on the document prepared by OHCHR (HRI/MC/2019/3), as requested by the Chairs at their previous meeting (A/73/140, para. 86 (c)).

8.Modalities and organization of future meetings of Chairs and other intersessional activities

With the aim of further enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their annual meeting, the Chairs will discuss the working modalities and organization of the meetings of Chairs and their intersessional activities.

9.Any other business

The Chairs will discuss any other matter relating to the work of human rights treaty bodies, as necessary.

10.Adoption of the report on the thirty-first meeting

The Chairs will adopt the draft report on the thirty-first meeting, ad referendum, which will include the draft agenda items for the thirty-second meeting and, as necessary, recommendations to be submitted to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session.