The 1503 Procedure of the Commission on Human Rights

Introduction
The procedure before the Commission on Human Rights, called the 1503 procedure after the
resolution of the Economic and Social Council whereb it was established, !1"# is the oldest
human rights complaint mechanism in the $nited %ations sstem& $nder this procedure the
Commission, a political bod composed of State representati'es, generall deals with
situations in countries rather than indi'idual complaints& !15#
The procedure was substantiall amended in (000 b the Economic and Social Council to
ma)e it more efficient, to facilitate dialogue with the *o'ernments concerned and to pro'ide
for a more meaningful debate in the final stages of a complaint before the Commission on
Human Rights& !1+# ,t is this so-called re'ised 1503 procedure that is e.plained below&
Who can submit a complaint under the 1503 procedure?
$nder the 1503 procedure, the Commission has the mandate to e.amine a consistent pattern
of gross and reliabl attested 'iolations of human rights and fundamental freedoms occurring
in an countr of the world& /n indi'idual or group claiming to be the 'ictim of such human
rights 'iolations ma submit a complaint, as ma an other person or group with direct and
reliable )nowledge of such 'iolations& 0here an %*1 submits a complaint, it must be acting
in good faith and in accordance with recogni2ed principles of human rights& The organi2ation
should also ha'e reliable direct e'idence of the situation it is describing&
What material should I submit under the 1503 procedure?
3irst, ou must pro'ide identifing particulars since a complaint cannot be anonmous& 4ou
should direct our complaint to the 1ffice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or the
$nited %ations, ideall specifing that ou wish the complaint to be dealt with under the 1503
procedure& 4ou should set out the purpose of the complaint and the rights alleged to ha'e been
'iolated& 4ou ma submit this material b normal mail, facsimile message or e-mail& !15#
Each complaint should describe the rele'ant facts in as much detail as possible, pro'iding
names of alleged 'ictims, dates, locations and other e'idence& /s the procedure primaril
e.amines patterns of 'iolations rather than indi'idual 'iolations as such, it is ad'isable for a
complaint not simpl to focus on the facts of an indi'idual6s case but, if possible, to e.pand on
a group or series of such cases& ,t is not sufficient to rel on mass media reports7 specific
e'idence should be pro'ided& ,n short, there must be reasonable grounds to infer from the
material that the alleged pattern of gross human rights 'iolations e.ists&
Criteria of admissibilit
8arious conditions need to be met for our complaint to be considered admissible& ,f it does
not satisf these criteria, it ma be re9ected&
4our complaint should be submitted within a reasonable time following the e.haustion of
a'ailable remedies in our own countr& 4ou should ideall show that ou ha'e e.hausted
such remedies& 4our complaint should not contain abusi'e or insulting language& The
submission of complaints o'erlapping with other procedures in the $nited %ations sstem and
the duplication of complaints alread considered b such procedures should be a'oided&
:astl, no complaint should be politicall moti'ated or run counter to the principles of the
$nited %ations&
Ho! does the 1503 procedure operate?
4ou ma submit a complaint at an time& ,f our complaint gets through the initial screening
process described below, it will be considered b the formal 1503 procedure bodies which
meet annuall&
"tep 1# Initial screening $"ecretariat together !ith the Chairperson of the Wor%ing &roup on
Communications'
The Secretariat screens all complaints as the arri'e& 4our complaint ma be re9ected as
manifestl ill-founded b the Secretariat acting 9ointl with the Chairperson of the so-called
0or)ing *roup on Communications ;see step ( below<& ,f our complaint ma)es it to the ne.t
stage of the process, it will be ac)nowledged and forwarded to the *o'ernment concerned for
comment& *o'ernment replies remain confidential and are not communicated to ou&
"tep (# Wor%ing &roup on Communications
In late summer $usuall )ugust'* !1=# the 0or)ing *roup on Communications meets to
assess complaints that ha'e passed the initial screening stage o'er the last ear and ha'e been
forwarded to the *o'ernment concerned for comment at least twel'e wee)s before the
meeting of the 0or)ing *roup& ,t e.amines complaints and an replies recei'ed from
*o'ernments with a 'iew to bringing to the attention of the 0or)ing *roup on Situations an
situations that appear to re'eal a consistent pattern of gross and reliabl attested 'iolations of
human rights and fundamental freedoms& The 0or)ing *roup comprises fi'e members of the
Sub-Commission for the >romotion and >rotection of Human Rights& ,t ma decide to hold
o'er a communication to obtain replies or further information from the *o'ernments
concerned or for other reasons&
The proceedings of the 0or)ing *roup are confidential& The are also conducted on the basis
of written material onl, so that neither *o'ernments nor complainants appear before it& ,t
should be noted that most complaints fail to proceed beond this point& *o'ernments are
ad'ised of the decisions of the 0or)ing *roup but ou are not&
"tep 3# Wor%ing &roup on "ituations
+arl in the follo!ing ear $usuall ,ebruar'* the 0or)ing *roup on Situations meets to
consider situations referred to it b the 0or)ing *roup on Communications& !1?# ,t also
considers an situations of which the Commission on Human Rights itself remains sei2ed
from its pre'ious session ;see the ne.t stage in the process<& The 0or)ing *roup decides
whether, in the light of all the material from the pre'ious stages of the process, the situation
referred to it appears to re'eal a consistent pattern of gross and reliabl attested 'iolations of
human rights and fundamental freedoms& The *roup has fi'e members, who are usuall
nominated b the regional groups of States within the Commission on Human Rights in order
to ensure e@uitable geographic distribution&
The 0or)ing *roup has a 'ariet of options for dealing with the situations before it& ,t ma
forward a situation to the Commission, in which case the 0or)ing *roup usuall ma)es
specificrecommendations for action& /lternati'el, it ma decide to )eep a situation pending
before it or to close the file&
/s with the 0or)ing *roup on Communications, the proceedings of the 0or)ing *roup on
Situations are confidential and based on written material onl, so that neither *o'ernments
nor complainants appear before it& *o'ernments are ad'ised of the decisions of the 0or)ing
*roup, including an recommendations made to the Commission, but ou are not&
"tep -# Commission on Human Rights
)ppro.imatel a month after the pre/ious stage $usuall 0arch'* the Commission on
Human Rights, meeting in closed session, considers the situations referred to it b the
0or)ing *roup on Situations& Representati'es of the *o'ernments concerned are in'ited to
address the Commission and answer @uestions& /t a subse@uent meeting shortl thereafter, the
Commission considers its final decision, again in closed session& Representati'es of the
*o'ernment concerned ma also be present at this point&
The Commission has a 'ariet of options for dealing with situations that come before it& ,t
ma elect to )eep a situation under re'iew in the light of an further information recei'ed or it
ma )eep it under re'iew and appoint an independent e.pert& /lternati'el, it ma discontinue
the matter under the 1503 procedure and ta)e it up instead under a public procedure, !(0# or
discontinue the matter when no further consideration is warranted& ,f it wishes, it ma also
ma)e recommendations to its parent bod, the Economic and Social Council&
/fter the Commission has considered the situations before it, the Chairperson announces at a
public meeting the names of the countries e.amined under the 1503 procedure and those of
countries no longer dealt with under the procedure&
Confidentialit of the 1503 procedure
/lthough ou must state our name when ma)ing a complaint, ou ma re@uest that it be
suppressed if the complaint is forwarded to the *o'ernment concerned& /ll material pro'ided
b indi'iduals and *o'ernments, as well as the decisions ta)en at the 'arious stages of the
procedure, remain confidential and are not made public& This also applies to situations that
ha'e been discontinued, unless the Economic and Social Council decides otherwise or the
*o'ernment concerned e.presses the wish that the dossiers be made public& Howe'er, while
these rules of confidentialit are binding on the $nited %ations bodies dealing with our
complaint, the do not preclude ou from disclosing the fact that ou ha'e submitted a
complaint under the 1503 procedure&
)d/antages and possible dra!bac%s of the 1503 procedure
/s with all other procedures described in this 3act Sheet, the 1503 procedure has ad'antages
and disad'antages that ou should ponder before deciding under which mechanism ou ma
best submit our complaint& The pluses of the 1503 procedure are that ou ma submit a
complaint against an countr without needing to chec) whether it has ratified a particular
treat or limited its obligations under the instrument& 1nce ou ha'e submitted a complaint,
ou do not ha'e to respond again at a later point with further information - the initial
complaint is sufficient& 0ith the 1503 procedure, it is possible for our complaint to reach the
highest le'el of the $nited %ations human rights machiner, the Commission on Human
Rights& ,t ma thus result in 'er significant pressure being brought to bear upon a State to
change laws, policies or practices that infringe internationall guaranteed human rights&
>ossible drawbac)s of the procedure are that ou will not be informed of the decisions ta)en
at the 'arious stages of the process or the reasons for them& %or will ou be informed of the
rele'ant *o'ernment6s responses to our complaint& 4ou should also be aware that the
procedure can be protracted and, unli)e the procedures described in >art 1, there is no
pro'ision for urgent measures of protection&
How to file complaints under the 1503 procedure
3or complaints under this procedure, direct our correspondence and in@uiries toA
Bail
CommissionCSub-Commission Team ;1503 >rocedure<
Treaties D Commission Eranch
1ffice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
$nited %ations 1ffice at *ene'a
1(11 *ene'a 10, Swit2erland
3a. F "1 (( ?15?011
E-mail 1503Gohchr&org