States parties to the Optional Protocol and increased public awareness of the Committee's work under the Optional Protocol have led to a substantial growth in the number of communications submitted to it. At the opening of the Committee's forty-fifth session, there were 153 cases pending. This increased workload means that the Committee can no longer examine communications as expeditiously as hitherto and highlights the urgent need to reinforce the Secretariat staff. The Human Rights Committee reiterates its request to the Seeretary-Geaeral to take the necessary steps to ensure a substantial increase in the number of staff, specialized in the various legal systems, assigned to service the Committee, and wishes to record that the work under the Optional Protocol continues to suffer as a result of insufficient secretariat resources. C. Hew approaches to examining communications under the Optional Protocol 616. In view of the growing case-load, the Committee has been applying new working methods to enable it to deal more expeditiously with communications under the Optional Protocol. 1. Special Rapporteur on Mew Communications 617. At its thirty-fifth session, the Committee decided to designate a Special Rapporteur to process new communications as they were received, i.e., between sessions of the Committee. Mrs. Rosalyn Higgins served as Special Rapporteur for a period of two years. At its forty-first session, the Committee designated Mr. Rajsoomer Lallan to succeed Mrs. Higgins for a period of one year; at the forty-fourth session, His mandate was renewed by the Committee for an additional year* Since the end of the forty-second session, the Special Rapporteur has transmitted 30 new communications to the States parties concerned under rule 91 of the Committee's rules of procedure, reguesfcing information or observations relevant to the question of admissibility. In some cases, the Special Rapporteurs recommended to the Committee that the communications be declared inadmissible without being forwarded to the State party. The Special Rapporteur also issued requests for interim measures of protection pursuant to rule 86 of the Committee's rules of procedure. 2. Competence of the Working Group on Communications 618. At its thirty-sixth session, the Committee decided to authorize the Working Group on Communications, consisting of five members, to adopt decisions to declare communications admissible when all the members so agreed* Failing such agreement, the Working Group would refer the matter to the Committee. It could also do so whenever it believed that the Committee itself should decide the question o£ admissibility. While the Working Group could not adopt decisions declaring communications inadmissible, it might make recommendations in that respect to the Committee. Pursuant to those rules, the Working Group on Communications, preceding the forty-third, forty-fourth and forty-fifth sessions of the Committee, declared 20 communications admissible. -147-