CEDAW/C/60/D/48/2013 Consideration of the merits 7.1 The Committee recalls that, under article 7 (1) of the Optional Protocol, the Committee is to consider communications received in the light of all information made available to it by or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals and by the State party concerned, provided that that information is transmitted to the parties concerned. The Committee notes that the State party provided no observations on the author’s claims concerning the admissibility and the merits of the case, despite having received three reminders in that regard. The Committee has therefore considered the present communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the authors, pursuant to article 7 ( 1). 7.2 The Committee recalls that, under articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention, States parties have an obligation to adopt appropriate measures to amend or abolish not only existing laws and regulations but also customs and practices that constitute discrimination against women, including when States parties have multiple legal systems in which different personal status laws apply to individuals on the basis of identity factors such as ethnicity or religion. 24 The Committee also recalls that the accountability of States parties to implement their obligations under article 2 is engaged through the acts or omissions of acts of all branches of the Government, including the judiciary. 25 Under article 16 (1), States parties have an obligation to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations. 26 In that respect, the Committee recalls its general recommendation No. 29 on article 16 of the Convention (economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution), which, building upon the principles articulated in, notably, general recommendation No. 21, requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women at the inception of marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution by divorce or death, as provided for in article 16 of the Convention. 27 States parties therefore have an obligation to adopt laws of intestate succession that comply with the principles of the Convention and that ensure equal treatment of surviving females and males. 28 In that respect, the Committee __________________ 24 25 26 27 28 10/13 See also general recommendation No. 29, para. 12: “Some States parties have multiple legal systems in which different personal status laws apply to individuals on the basis of identity factors such as ethnicity or religion. Some, but not all, of these States parties also have a civil legal code that may apply in prescribed circumstances or by choice of the parties. In some States, however, individuals may have no choice as to the application of identity-based personal status laws.” See also general recommendation No. 28, para. 31. General recommendation No. 28, para. 39. See communication No. 47/2012, González Carreño v. Spain, views adopted on 16 July 2014, para. 9.7. General recommendation No. 29, para. 6. See also paragraph 7, according to which “the entitlement of women to equality within the family is universally acknowledged”. Reference is also made to Human Rights Committee general comment No. 28 on equality of rights between men and women (in particular paras. 23-27) and general comment No. 19 on protection of the family, the right to marriage and equality of the spouses; and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 16 on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (in particular para. 27) and general comment No. 20 on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights. General recommendation No. 29, para. 53. See also general recommendation No. 21, paras. 34 and 35. In particular, see para. 35: “There are many countries where the law and practice concerning inheritance and property result in serious discrimination against women. As a result of this uneven treatment, women may receive a smaller share of the husband’s or father’s property at his death than would widowers and sons. In some instances, women are granted 15-05820