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Mr Chairman
The Governments of Canada, New Zealand and Australia are strongly committed to strengthening the operation of the UN treaty bodies as a concrete way of advancing the promotion and the protection of human rights. At this important moment in UN history, with the resolve of Leaders recently expressed at the Summit to improve the effectiveness of the treaty bodies, it is vital that we ensure momentum on reform is maintained.
Canada, New Zealand and Australia applaud the High Commissioner's efforts in working cooperatively with States to improve the functioning and effectiveness of the treaty committee system. We share concerns at the degree of overlap in the work of the committees, and support an overriding principle of reducing duplication where possible. We have closely examined the ideas for further reform of the system which the High Commissioner has put forward in her ‘Plan of Action' and we commend the bold and visionary approach she has taken. In particular, the High Commissioner’s proposal for a unified standing treaty body warrants careful and serious consideration. As with any proposed significant institutional restructure, establishment of a single treaty body would involve extensive organisational changes and there are many issues to consider, including the need for sufficient regular budget resources. But in the interests of taking treaty body reform to its logical conclusion, we consider that this idea must be thoroughly and carefully examined. Meanwhile, we encourage the High Commissioner to continue to explore means of achieving greater efficiency in the operation of the UN human rights system and we stand ready to assist her in this regard.
Canada, New Zealand and Australia have been actively engaged over several years in fostering improvements to the treaty committee system including through participation in workshops on reform in Geneva in 2001, 2002 and 2003. These workshops brought together representatives from a cross-regional grouping of 30 countries, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the treaty bodies themselves and provided impetus and practical direction for reform efforts. We are pleased to see that many of the outcomes of these workshops have been taken up and now form part of the mainstream treaty body reform agenda. The work of the Inter-Committee Meeting and Meeting of Treaty Body Chairs reflects the widespread recognition of the importance and practical benefit of a more harmonised system and these forums have an important role to play in translating reform initiatives into action within committees.
Canada, New Zealand and Australia welcome the call by Leaders at the UN Summit for improved and streamlined reporting procedures and are supportive of the initiative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in developing guidelines directed towards harmonisation of reporting requirements across the various treaties. We consider that these reforms contain great potential to ease and streamline the reporting process for States. We look forward to the opportunity of commenting on the final draft guidelines being prepared by a technical group of the Inter-Committee Meeting. We support cooperation from States, including in meeting reporting obligations and follow-up and implementation of recommendations as required. There is a key role for treaty bodies in addressing the “implementation gap” referred to by the High Commissioner.
Mr Chairman
We would like to acknowledge the good progress that has been made by the treaty bodies in a range of areas. In this context, we welcome the now regular dialogues with States on working methods. We are pleased that those committees with a backlog of reports awaiting consideration are examining proactive measures to address this, including the possibility of meeting simultaneously in Chambers, which will be put into practice by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 2006. We would also encourage the continuation of the practice of committees sharing lists of issues with States prior to consideration of their reports. We welcome the innovative and proactive approach taken by members of some committees to broader discussions about reform of the treaty body system at the annual Inter-Committee Meeting held in June this year.
However, there are many areas where further improvements could be achieved in State and treaty body practices. For example, we consider that there is scope to examine further improvements in the harmonisation of committee practices, in reducing duplication in their work, in establishing reporting schedules that take into account the capacity of the committees to consider reports, and in consistency and transparency in their dealings with material supplied by non-government organisations.
Another area which has a major impact on the integrity and effectiveness of the treaty body system is the credentials and calibre of experts who serve on Committees. States have a responsibility to nominate experts who have the relevant human rights expertise, whose skills and experience are relevant to the work of the committees, and who are truly independent and have a high degree of integrity.
