International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

The ICCPR is monitored by the Human Rights Committee (HRC).

The HRC was created in 1976 and meets tri-annually. The ICCPR is obliged to provide periodic reports every 4 years, but the HRC varies the periodicity in accordance with its follow-up procedure.

Read a Fact Sheet on the Human Rights Committee.

The reporting process

There are several stages to reporting on ICCPR.

Phase 1:

• Preparation of the state report at the national level
• Broad consultation and input from civil society
• NGO submissions and reports
• Pre-sessional preparation by the treaty bodies for the examination of the report
• Adoption of a List of Issues (LOI) or a List of Issue Prior to Reporting (LOIPR)

Phase 2:

• Consideration of the report in a public meeting through a constructive dialogue with the state party
• Issuing of concluding observations and recommendations

Phase 3:

• Follow-up on implementation of the concluding observations
• NGOs also play an important role in this process (pressure states into acting)

Guidance for NGO submissions on the ICCPR

NGOs are important for the implementation of the ICCPR. They complement the information provided by states, highlight human rights issues, and monitor the implementation of the concluding observations.

How do I make a submission?

• The UK is currently in the final stage of the review cycle, meaning that stakeholders have already submitted responses to the List of Issues published in 2020
• The UK’s state party report was submitted in 2021, in response to the List of Issues
• The latest deadline to respond to the List of Issues as a stakeholder was 5th February 2024
• The HRC gave their concluding observations to the UK state in May 2024
• You may find it useful to refer to the ‘Reporting under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Training Guide’ from the UN as you prepare your report
• Click here to read the Consortium’s response, with contributions from JustRight Scotland, CEMVO Scotland, Age Scotland, The Equality Network, Scottish Youth Parliament, Howard League Scotland, Humanist Society Scotland, Making Rights Real, Inclusion Scotland and Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD)
• Click here to read our statement to the Committee, made on 11th March 2024
• Click here to read the concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Structure and Content

• Introduction including a presentation of involved NGOs & methodological information 
• Substantive part should include objective information on the implementation of ICCPR articles and/or related issues (it is important to ensure that information is up to date)

Conclusion and suggested recommendations

• Recommendations must be concrete, realistic and where appropriate include time frames for their implementation
• References should be made to the sources of information, documents, legislation, policies and other relevant information
• Direct references to the state report should include the paragraph number in the state report
• HRC’s concluding observations should also be considered

It might be handy to know that:

• The Committee often prefer coalition reports
• There is usually a limitation of 10 pages for an individual organisation report, and 15 pages for a coalition report
• The report must be in one (or more) of the HRC’s working languages (English, French, Spanish)
• Usually, NGO reports are made public and posted on the OHCHR website
• Under exceptional circumstance the information sent may be kept confidential (but you must clearly state this at time of submission)

Useful guides & links

• Guidelines on the reporting process to the HRC for NGOs.
• Civil and Political Rights: The Human Rights Committee Fact Sheet
• NGO submissions and official documentation submitted to the HRC on the UK.
• State report by the UK to the HRC for the seventh periodic report due in July 2012.
• Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland adopted by the HRC at its 114th session (August 2015).
• Simple guide to the UN treaty Bodies.
• A handbook for civil society by the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights.
• 2020 UK List of Issues Prior to Reporting
• 2021 UK state report
• Civil society submissions submitted to the HRC in 2020
• Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland