prevent unnecessary disputes between parties. therefore be strictly applied. These principles should In my opinion a State party may consent to a wider application of the Optional Protocol ratione temporis only by an agreement which is concluded with the other contracting States parties. It falls outside the competence of the Human Rights Committee under article 1 of the Optional Protocol to negotiate with a State party the retroactive application of the Optional Protocol. Bertil WENNERGRER Notes a./ See annex X, sect. AA, A.I.E. v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. decision of 7 November 1991, forty-third session. -324-