Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession by
General Assembly resolution
2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966
entry into
force 23
March 1976, in accordance with Article 9
The States Parties to the
present Protocol,
Considering that in order
further to achieve the purposes of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Covenant) and the
implemenation of its provisions it would be appropriate to enable the
Human Rights Committee set up in part IV of the Covenant (hereinafter
referred to as the Committee) to receive and consider, as provided in
the present Protocol, communications from individuals claiming to be
victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant.
Have agreed as follows:
Article
I
A State Party to the
Covenant that becomes a Party to the present Protocol recognizes the
competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from
individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a
violation by that State Party of any of the rights set forth in the
Covenant. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it
concerns a State Party to the Covenant which is not a Party to the
present Protocol.
Article
2
Subject to the provisions
of article 1, individuals who claim that any of their rights enumerated
in the Covenant have been violated and who have exhausted all available
domestic remedies may submit a written communication to the Committee
for consideration.
Article
3
The Committee shall
consider inadmissible any communciation under the present Protocol which
is anonymous, or which it considers to be an abuse of the right of
submission of such communications or to be incompatible with the
provisions of the Covenant.
Article
4
1. Subject to the
provisions of article 3, the Committee shall bring any communications
submitted to it under the present Protocol to the attention of the State
Party to the present Protocol alleged to be violating any provision of
the Covenant.
2. Within six months, the receiving State
shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements
clarifying the matter and the remedy, if any, that may have been taken
by that State.
Article
5
1. The Committee shall
consider communications received under the present Protocol in the light
of all written information made available to it by the individual and by
the State Party concerned.
2. The Committee shall not consider any
communication from an individual unless it has ascertained
that:
(a) The same matter is not
being examined under another procedure of international investigation or
settlement;
(b) The individual has exhausted all
available domestic remedies. This shall not be the rule where the
application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged.
3. The Committee shall
hold closed meetings when examining communications under the present
Protocol.
4. The Committee shall forward its views to
the State Party concerned and to the individual.
Article
6
The Committee shall
include in its annual report under article 45 of the Covenant a summary
of its activities under the present Protocol.
Article
7
Pending the achievement of
the objectives of resolution 1514(XV) adopted by the General Assembly of
the United Nations on 14 December 1960 concerning the Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the
provisions of the present Protocol shall in no way limit the right of
petition granted to these peoples by the Charter of the United Nations
and other international conventions and instruments under the United
Nations and its specialized agencies.
Article
8
1. The present Protocol is
open for signature by any State which has signed the Covenant.
2. The present Protocol is subject to
ratification by any State which has ratified or acceded to the Covenant.
Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. The present Protocol shall be open to
accession by any State which has ratified or acceded to the
Covenant.
4. Accession shall be effected by the
deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations.
5. The Secretary-General of the United
Nations shall inform all States which have signed the present Protocol
or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or
accession.
Article
9
1. Subject to the entry
into force of the Covenant, the present Protocol shall enter into force
three months after the date of the deposit with the Secretary-General of
the United Nations of the tenth instrument of ratification or instrument
of accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present
Protocol or acceding to it after the deposit of the tenth instrument of
ratification or instrument of accession, the present Protocol shall
enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of its own
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
Article
10
The provisions of the
present Protocol shall extend to all parts of federal States without any
limitations or exceptions.
Article
11
1. Any State Party to the
present Protocol may propose an amendment and file it with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall
thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States Parties to
the present Protocol with a request that they notify him whether they
favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and
voting upon the proposal. In the event that at least one third of the
States Parties favours such a conference, the Secretary-General shall
convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any
amendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and voting
at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the
United Nations for approval.
2. Amendments shall come into force when
they have been approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations
and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the
present Protocol in accordance with their respective constitutional
processes.
3. When amendments come into force, they
shall be binding on those States Parties which have accepted them, other
States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present
Protocol and any earlier amendment which they have accepted.
Article
12
1. Any State Party may
denounce the present Protocol at any time by written notification
addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation
shall take effect three months after the date of receipt of the
notification by the Secretary-General.
2. Denunciation shall be without prejudice
to the continued application of the provisions of the present Protocol
to any communication submitted under article 2 before the effective date
of denunciation.
Article
13
Irrespective of the
notifications made under article 8, paragraph 5, of the present
Protocol, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all
States referred to in article 48, paragraph I, of the Covenant of the
following particulars:
(a) Signatures,
ratifications and accessions under article 8;
(b) The date of the entry into force of the
present Protocol under article 9 and the date of the entry into force of
any amendments under article 11;
(c) Denunciations under article
12.
Article
14
1. The present Protocol,
of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are
equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United
Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United
Nations shall transmit certified copies of the present Protocol to all
States referred to in article 48 of the Covenant. | 