The role of States, civil society and United

Nations country teams

States, civil society and United Nations country teams can all play a role in promot-ing the Optional Protocol and can benefit from it. In particular, States can:

• Ratify the Optional Protocol. Clearly, States should consider ratifying the Optional Protocol.

• Strengthen implementation. Ratifying the Optional Protocol exposes States to indi-vidual complaints and inquiries. This can deter them from not complying with the Convention. Views on communications

and inquiries can also indicate the steps that a State should take to comply.

• Strengthen domestic remedies. The fact that alleged victims can appeal to the Committee can act as a trigger for strengthening domestic remedies (e.g., ensuring that all rights are justiciable at the national level) so that cases do not need to go to the Committee in the first place.

• Provide timely information to the Com-mittee. States should participate actively in the communication and inquiry pro-cesses by providing up-to-date and accu-rate information so that the Committee can act with full knowledge of the facts.

• Follow up on recommendations. States should ensure that they follow up on rec-ommendations to provide a remedy to victims, but also to ensure that the treaty body system is respected and is effec-tive. It was, after all, created by States, so States have an interest in ensuring that it works.

• Disseminate the Committee’s views.

States should, at the very least, pub-lish its views on individual communica-tions relating to individuals under their jurisdiction. States should also consider publishing the results of inquiries under the Optional Protocol as this will trigger national debate, which in turn should help the implementation of recommenda-tions and ultimately improve the enjoy-ment of rights.

• Report on follow-up. States should ensure that they conscientiously report on fol-low-up to recommendations in subse-quent periodic reports to the Committee.

Civil society and DPOs have a crucial role in strengthening the national

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tation of the Convention through promoting the ratification of the Optional Protocol and advocating the implementation of the Com-mittee’s recommendations. In particular, civil society can:

• Promote ratification of the Optional Pro-tocol. Organizations of persons with dis-abilities and civil society organizations have an important role in encouraging States to ratify treaties, including optional protocols. It is often through such lobby-ing that States take the decision to ratify.

In promoting ratification, DPOs and civil society organizations can also advocate acceptance of the inquiry procedure (i.e., no declaration to the contrary upon either signature or ratification).

• Assist individuals in bringing complaints.

Organizations of persons with disabili-ties and civil society can play an impor-tant role in creating awareness about the communication and inquiry procedures, and provide victims with the knowledge and often the resources to file a com-plaint.

• Submit communications. Organizations of persons with disabilities can act on behalf of victims. At times, persons with disabilities who are victims of violations are denied legal capacity, lack educa-tion, live in poverty and so on. In such circumstances, the role of DPOs is even more important. As noted above, nor-mally a DPO will have to demonstrate that it has the consent of the victim on whose behalf it is acting.

• Inform inquiries. When violations are grave or systematic, it is often DPOs that have the broad-ranging information avail-able to spot the patterns and provide the Committee with the information it needs.

• Monitor compliance by State parties with recommendations. Organizations of persons with disabilities can be the eyes and ears of monitoring. They can witness changes (or lack of action) fol-lowing the Committee’s recommenda-tions. If nothing is done, they can com-municate this to the Committee (through communications or alternative reports).

• Disseminate jurisprudence. Organiza-tions of persons with disabilities can disseminate decisions taken by domestic courts to satisfy the rights of victims as well as the Committee’s recommenda-tions and observarecommenda-tions related to com-munications and inquiries.

• Report on follow-up. Civil society organ-izations preparing alternative reports to the Committee should consider including information on follow-up to views and recommendations under the Optional Protocol.

United Nations country teams can sup-port ratification of the Optional Protocol and also implementation of the Committee’s sug-gestions and recommendations relating to individual communications and inquiries. In particular, United Nations country teams can:

• Promote ratification. The United Nations country teams can use advocacy with partner ministries to encourage ratifi-cation of the Optional Protocol. One way would be for the country team to collect recommendations of other human rights bodies encouraging ratification of the Optional Protocol and use this in discussions with their government coun-terparts.  It is likely that the Committee (similar to other treaty bodies) will rec-ommend ratification of the Optional Pro-tocol in its regular reviews of State party

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reports. Similarly, the universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council, the special procedures during country missions or the High Commissioner and even regional human rights bodies will recommend that specific States should ratify the Optional Protocol. United Nations country teams can draw on these recommendations to promote rati-fication.

• Collect information on domestic case law and experience with optional proto-cols of other treaties. In countries where domestic courts or NHRIs have already dealt with complaints in relation to dis-abilities, States might be more willing to accept the justiciability of the Con-vention’s rights. United Nations country teams can collect and analyse informa-tion on such experience to demonstrate how judicial and quasi-judicial proce-dures can improve the realization of human rights, including the rights of per-sons with disabilities.

• Raise awareness and train relevant actors, such as judges, law students, civil servants and DPOs/civil society organizations so that they are aware of the Optional Protocol and its relevance to their work in order to support and advocate ratification. If the Committee has issued recommendations related to a communication or inquiry, training can help these actors identify ways to pro-mote implementation. Alternatively, the United Nations country team could issue a press release on the anniversary of the entering into force of the two instru-ments (3 May), the international day of persons with disabilities (3 December) or the anniversary of ratification of the Convention by the State to encourage the State party to ratify the Optional

Pro-tocol. When the Committee issues sug-gestions and recommendations related to an inquiry or communication, the country team can encourage the Gov-ernment to issue a press release or con-sider issuing a press release itself.

• Provide reliable information to the Committee. The United Nations coun-try team can use the inquiry mechanism as a means of highlighting a country situation which might be too sensitive for the United Nations country team to do itself. In this way, the country team can rely on the Committee to under-take an independent investigation so that the issue is dealt with adequately, without the country team being placed in a difficult position vis-à-vis the Gov-ernment.

• Assist with follow-up. Depending on the nature of the views and recommen-dations and the knowledge and expe-rience in the United Nations country team, it could help the State party imple-ment the Committee’s views and recom-mendations. This could be particularly relevant for inquiries where the views and recommendations are likely to be comprehensive, covering a range of different interrelated issues concerning implementation (as opposed to views on a communication, which might simply be about providing compensation to an individual victim).

• Disseminate the Committee’s views and recommendations. The United Nations country team could publish the Com-mittee’s views and recommendations on its website and also issue a press release when decisions are published.

• Report on follow-up. The United Nations country team can also provide

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tion to the Committee, either publicly or confidentially, when a State party pre-sents its periodic report. It can provide the Committee with invaluable

informa-tion on follow-up to its views and recom-mendations under the Optional Protocol.

In this way, the Committee has informa-tion from a trusted source.

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