Andrew Stevenson
Third Committee Advisor
New York, New York
October 12, 2021
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We applaud the Committee for the seriousness with which it has engaged on treaty body reform. We praised the treaty body chair’s commitment to implement reforms aimed at harmonizing and streamlining the system and welcome simplified reporting procedures.
However, we want to emphasize our concern with the Committee’s tendency to make highly expansive interpretations and overbroad characterizations of the international law obligations contained within the ICCPR.
We understand that 2020 was a challenging year, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are interested in hearing more updates on progress made on reform, including whether plans have been made to develop and implement a code of conduct for treaty body members.
Question: Has the Committee discussed additional measures that might address this backlog of communications regarding reforms?
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