Abstract

I. Introduction IL Normative Content and Institutional Structure: An Overview III. State Reports 1. The Committee's Role 2. Sources of Information 3. Contents and Examination of State Reports 4. Special Reports 5. Reporting Obligations and State Succession N Inter-State Communications V. Individual Communications 1. The Normative Framework 2. Follow-Up 3. Applying the Optional Protocol VI. General Comments VII. Conclusions 1. Delinquent State Reports 2. Working Methods and Financial Problems 3. Norm-Setting and Quasi-Judicial Role 4. Binding Decisions under the Optional Protocol I. Introduction The United Nations Human Rights Committee is not the oldest UN human rights treaty body. That distinction belongs to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).' Over time, though, the Human Rights Committee has emerged as the most active M. Frowein and R Wotfnim (edy.), Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Zaw Volume 5. 2001. 341-398. © 2001 Kluwer Law international Printed in The Netherlands. and innovative of these institutions. Although it is difficult to fully ex- plain why the Committee acquired this special status, a number of fac- tors may have contributed to it. One has to do with the fact that the Committee has the broadest subject-matter jurisdiction or competence of