Implementation of UN Treaty Body Decisions: A Brief Insight for Practitioners

Abstract

Abstract The United Nations human rights treaty bodies are independent bodies of experts tasked with monitoring the implementation by states parties of human rights treaties. These bodies monitor the implementation of treaties, inter alia, by making decisions on allegations of individual human rights violations under the individual complaints procedures (these decisions are officially referred to as ‘Views’). The number of complaints to the treaty bodies has increased exponentially since the first complaint was examined by the Human Rights Committee in 1977 and is expected to continue to rise. At the same time, a backlog in cases has increased, as resources have never matched the rise in cases to be considered. In addition, decisions in which the treaty bodies find violations of human rights are not always implemented—that is, states do not necessarily grant the victim of the violation the remedy prescribed by the treaty body examining the case. This current situation is taking place against a global backdrop of increased criticism of human rights: a global pushback against human rights, including from states which have been heretofore human rights supportive. Surely, the response from supporters of human rights should be to reinforce the importance and universality of the treaties as the foundation of human rights norms. This article seeks to demonstrate one way to do so by focusing on implementation of treaty body decisions in individual cases.