Third Open-Ended Working Group to Consider Options Regarding the Elaboration of an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Geneva, 6-17 February 2006

Submission Regarding the Inquiry Procedure
NGO Coalition for an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
8 February 2006

The NGO Coalition considers that the Optional Protocol should include the so-called inquiry procedure. This procedure, which is very respectful of the sovereignty of the State, seeks and requires the full cooperation of the State party.

As it has been established by Article 20 CAT and Article 8 CEDAW-OP, this procedure enable the Committee to initiate a confidential investigation when it has received reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations by a state party of rights set forth in the Convention. If it is deemed necessary, and only with the consent of the state party, the Committee may visit the territory of the state concerned. Any findings, recommendations or comments are transmitted to the state party, which has the right to respond.

The NGO Coalition considers that this mechanism would reinforce a communications procedure, Individuals, groups, NGOs, or any other entity should be able to submit information to the Committee regarding the need for an inquiry.

In general, inquiry mechanisms are important as they allow the supervisory bodies and the States to initiate a dialogue before the next report is due to be submitted. In addition, the procedure offers a means of addressing situations in which individual communications do not adequately reflect the gravity or systematic nature of violations of Covenant provisions. This type of mechanism also addresses the situations in which individuals or groups are unable to utilise the communications mechanism because of practical constraints.

The NGO Coalition supports the inclusion of an inquiry procedure that would enable the Committee to launch, on its own initiative, and on the basis of reliable information, inquiries into grave or systematic violations of rights enshrined in the ICESCR. An inquiry procedure included in the OP-ICESCR could be modelled after either Article 20 of the CAT, Article 8 of the OP-CEDAW, or Article 32 of the Draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons Against Enforced Disappearances, all of which authorise inquiry procedures in prescribed situations.

As well as conducting investigations under a stand-alone inquiry procedure to analyse situations of grave or systematic violations, the Committee should also be empowered to conduct inquiries within the framework of the procedural operation of an individual communications procedure. In this instance, the ability to conduct an inquiry (including field visits) should be available in relation to all individual communications and used whenever the Committee deems it appropriate or useful for a full and proper investigation of the communication.

This page was last updated on April 13, 2006

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