Reporting Mecahnism - Human Rights Council
last updated 12 June 2013 – Information is subject to change. Please check the Council’s website for updates.
 
Type of Mechanism
Reporting and Monitoring under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Scope of the Procedure
Review of the human rights records of all UN member states.
 
Each member State is examined on the basis of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the human rights instruments to which it is a party, its voluntary pledges and commitments, and applicable international humanitarian law.
How the Reporting Procedure Works[1]
All UN member States are reviewed under the UPR on a four-year cycle. Reviews are conducted by a Working Group of the UPR, composed of all 47 members of the Council, which meets in three two-week sessions each year to review a total of 42 State parties. Documentation provided for review includes: (1) information provided by the State party, (2) a compilation of UN information (including concluding observations from other treaty bodies), and (3) a summary of stakeholders’ submissions. The Human Rights Council provides general guidelines[2] for States parties and other stakeholders for the preparation of information.
 
The State party presents its report and responds to questions of the Working Group during a three-hour interactive dialogue between the State party under review and the member and observer States of the Council. A group of three rapporteurs (troikas) facilitate the review by collecting and circulating questions for the State party in advance of the review and preparing the outcome report, including a summary of the proceedings, conclusions and/or recommendations, and any voluntary commitments the State party has agreed to, at the conclusion of the review. The outcome report is adopted by the Working Group and provided to the State party for its comments. The State party may indicate which conclusions and recommendations it supports and note those that does not support, all of which is included in the report submitted to the Human Rights Council for final adoption.  
 
The Council allots one hour during its regular session to consider and adopt the outcome report. At that time, the State party under review, member observer States of the Council, and other relevant stakeholders, including NGOs, are given the opportunity to presents their views on the report and proceedings.
 
Conclusions/recommendations supported by the State party under review form the basis for follow-up and subsequent review cycles. While it is the State party’s responsibility to implement the UPR recommendations, the international community provides capacity building and technical assistance with the consent of and in consultation with the State party.   
Role of Advocates[3]
Advocates are encouraged to submit reports on States under review for potential inclusion in the summary of stakeholders’ submissions prepared by the OHCHR (one of the three documents upon which the UPR is based).
 
Additionally, NGOs in consultative relationship with ECOSOC may attend sessions of the Working Group and participate in regular sessions of the Council at which UPR outcome reports are considered and adopted. NGOs planning to attend a session must request accreditation from the secretariat at least two weeks in advance of the session. NGOs cannot make oral statements during the Working Group session, but may hold information sessions for Working Group members. NGOs wishing to arrange information sessions should contact the UPR secretariat. NGOs in consultative relationship with ECOSOC are provided the opportunity to make brief general comments to the Human Rights Council during its consideration of the outcome report.
 
Once the report is adopted, all relevant stakeholders (NGOs, academia, trade unions, media, etc.) are encouraged to disseminate the outcome at a national level and raise awareness of the UPR and the recommendations, monitor the human rights situation, and engage with national entities and other stakeholders in preparation for subsequent reviews.   
Submitting a Report[4]
Each submission should refer to one country only. Reports must not be longer than five pages in length (2815 words) for individual submissions or ten pages (5630 words) for coalitions of stakeholders. Footnotes should be kept to a minimum. Information in the footnotes will not be included in the word limit, but will also not be included in the summary prepared by the OHCRH. Additional information may be included in annexes for reference, but may not include pictures, maps, annual reports, or reports of other organizations. Submissions in excess of these page/word limits will not be considered, nor will submissions containing abusive language. Reports should be tailored for the UPR, following the general guidelines set by the Council, contain credible and reliable information, cover a maximum of a four-year time period, and highlight the main issues of concern.
 
NGOs are encouraged to collaborate with other NGOs and consolidate reports whenever possible to show broad consensus amongst numerous groups. Joint submissions should include the names of all submitting stakeholders at the beginning of the submission.
 
Submissions should be sent at least five months before the relevant session. Deadlines for stakeholders, in addition to reporting guidelines, are available on the OHCHR UPR web page. Late submissions will not be considered.
Where to Send Communications[5]
Written submissions should be sent electronically through the on-line UPR submissions system. Should technical problems be encountered, submissions should be sent via e-mail (Word document only; 12 pt. Times New Roman font), in one of the six working languages of the UN (preferably, English, Spanish, or French), to uprsubmissions@ohchr.org. The title of the email messages should include the name of the stakeholder/NGO, kind of contribution (individual and/or joint), the name of the reviewed country, and the month and year of the relevant UPR session. The body of the email should include: contact information for the primary contact person and a paragraph describing the main activities of the submitting organization/coalition and the date of establishment.
 
For additional information, contact the OHCHR Civil Society Unit at:
 
Tel: +41 22 917 96 56
Fax: +41 22 917 90 11
E-mail: civilsocietyunit@ohchr.org
Benefits/Limitations
All UN Member States are reviewed under the UPR.
 
Although all stakeholders may submit reports for consideration under the UPR, only NGOs with ECOSOC status are invited to participate in the Working Group and Council proceedings.
 
 

[2] Human Rights Council, Decision 6/102, Follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, 27 Feb. 2007.
[3]<span style="font-size:9.0pt;Arial" ,"sans-serif""=""> OHCHR, <i>“<a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/PracticalGuideCivilSociety.pdf" _cke_saved_href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/PracticalGuideCivilSociety.pdf">Universal Periodic Review: A Practical Guide for Civil Society</a>.”</i></span></div> </div> <div id="ftn4"> <div> <a href="#_ftnref4" _cke_saved_href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span><span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;Calibri" ,"sans-serif";times="" new="" roman";"="">[4]</span></span></span></a> Ibid.</div> </div> <div id="ftn5"> <div> <a href="#_ftnref5" _cke_saved_href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span><span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;Calibri" ,"sans-serif";times="" new="" roman";"="">[5]</span></span></span></a> Ibid.</div> </div> </div>