The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body that supervises and monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the States Parties, as well as the three Optional Protocols to the Convention. It is composed of 18 experts in children's rights, from different countries and legal systems, and meets in Geneva, where it holds three sessions a year.
It is also the body that publishes General Comments, which are interpretations of the content of the provisions established in the Convention on thematic issues, and is the body that examines and investigates individual complaints of grave or systematic violations of the rights protected by the Convention and Optional Protocols.
Under article 44 of the Convention, the 196 States that have ratified it are required to submit periodic reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on measures taken to fulfill the obligations under the Convention and on progress made in the enjoyment of the rights of children and adolescents in their territories. The first, two years after their accession to the Convention; and subsequently, every five years. The Committee examines each report and directs its recommendations to the State Party in the form of Concluding Observations.
Procedure:
Since September 1, 2019, States Parties may submit their periodic reports through a simplified reporting procedure, which consists of the following phases:
- Preparation of the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR):
The Committee sends the State Party a list of up to 30 questions to guide the topics that should be addressed in the report to be submitted. For its preparation, the Committee relies on contributions from stakeholders (NGOs, national human rights institutions, UNICEF and other United Nations bodies, independent experts, and children themselves), who identify priority and urgent issues for the State's review in that cycle. These contributions are sent to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) before the adoption of the LOIPR by the Committee.
- Submission of the State report:
After receiving the List of Issues, the State Party has one year to submit the national report to the OHCHR, in which it will respond to the specific questions posed.
- Subsequent participation of stakeholders:
Stakeholders may make contributions in response to the State Party's report, in alternative or complementary reports. Additionally, they may participate in pre-session meetings organized by the Committee.
- Interactive dialogue and adoption of Concluding Observations:
During the review session, the Committee and the examined State Party engage in an interactive dialogue on the situation of children's rights in the country, based on the reports prepared by all parties.
The Committee may pose additional questions, and at the end of the session, it adopts its Concluding Observations, indicating the progress made by the country since the previous cycle, expressing its concerns, and making a series of recommendations to improve the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols for the next review. Once published, the State Party must implement and follow up on them over the next 5 years.
Automatically translated with OpenAI from Spanish