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been made public and are available to all interested parties. They are then
forwarded to the State party concerned and included in the Committee’s report.
If it so wishes, the State party may address any of the Committee’s concluding
observations in the context of any additional information that it provides to
the Committee.
34.
When considering reports based on the previous reporting cycle and
dealing with only three articles of the Covenant, the Committee has
endeavoured to make the most of the very limited time available in which to
undertake a constructive and mutually rewarding dialogue with the
representatives of the States parties. This has generally involved an effort
to remain within a time-limit for each phase of the examination, on the basis
that only one meeting (three hours) can generally be devoted to each report.
35.
After the new reporting periodicity was endorsed by the Economic and
Social Council in 1988, the Committee decided at its ninth session that the
interim arrangements it had made to facilitate the transition by States
parties to the new periodicity would no longer apply as from 1 January 1995.
As from that date, all reports submitted to the Committee should be
comprehensive reports covering all the provisions of the Covenant in
accordance with the reporting guidelines.
36.
In general, the Committee devotes three meetings (of three hours each) to
its consideration of each global report (dealing with arts. 1-15). While the
use of the time available varies from one case to another, a reasonably
typical allocation is as follows: between one and two hours for the State
party representatives to introduce the report and explain the answers provided
in advance in writing to the Committee’s list of written questions; up to
three hours for the members of the Committee to make comments and pose
additional questions; up to three hours (at a meeting held the following day)
for the representatives of the State party to respond to the additional
questions and for further clarification of issues raised; between one and
three hours towards the end of the session for the Committee to discuss, in
private, its concluding observations.
3.
Deferrals of the presentation of reports
37.
Last-minute requests by States to defer the presentation of a report
which has been scheduled for consideration at a particular session are
extremely disruptive for all concerned and have caused major problems for the
Committee in the past. Accordingly, the Committee’s policy as from its
eighth session is not to grant such requests and to proceed with its
consideration of all scheduled reports, even in the absence of a
representative of the State concerned.
C.
Procedures in relation to follow-up action
38.
In situations in which the Committee considers that additional
information is necessary to enable it to continue its dialogue with the State
party concerned, there are several options that might be pursued:
(a)
The Committee might note that specific issues should be addressed
in a detailed manner in the State party’s next periodic report, which would
normally be due in five years’ time;