Treaty Interpretation

This page contains general comments and recommendations from international and regional treaty-monitoring bodies and monitoring mechanisms.

United Nations

Committee against Torture

• General Comment No. 1 (1998) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of Article 22
• General Comment No. 2 (2008) on the implementation of article 2 by State parties
• General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the implementation of article 14 by State parties
• General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the implementation of article 3 of the Convention in the context of Article 22

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

• General Recommendation 13 (1993) on the training of law enforcement officials in the protection of human rights
• General Recommendation 31 (2004) on the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the criminal justice system
• General recommendation No. 36 (2020) on preventing and combating racial profiling by law enforcement officials

Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

• General comment No. 5 (2021) on migrants’ rights to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention and their connection with other human rights

Committee on the Rights of the Child

• General Comment No. 8 (2006) – The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment (arts. 19; 28, para. 2; and 37, inter alia)
• General Comment No. 13 (2011) – The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence
• General Comment No. 24 (2019) – Children’s rights in the child justice system

Committee on Enforced Disappearances

• Guiding principles for the search for disappeared persons (2019)
• Key Guidelines on COVID-19 and Enforced Disappearances (2020)
• General Comment No. 1 on Enforced Disappearances in the context of Migration (2023)

Human Rights Committee

• General Comment No. 15 (1986) – The Position of Aliens under the Covenant
• General Comment No. 16 (1988) – Article 17: The Right to Respect of Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence, and Protection of Honour and Reputation
• General Comment No. 20 (1992) – Article 7: Prohibition of Torture, or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• General Comment No. 21 (1993) – Article 10: Humane Treatment of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty
• General Comment No. 29 (2001) – Article 4: States of Emergency
• General Comment No. 31 (2004) – Article 2: The Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant
• General Comment No. 32 (2007) – Article 14: Right to Equality before Courts and Tribunals and to Fair Trial
• General Comment No. 34 (2011) – Article 19: Freedoms of Opinion and Expression
• General Comment No. 35 (2014) – Article 9: Liberty and Security of Person
• General Comment No. 36 (2018) – Article 6: Right to Life
  • Human Rights, Deprivation of Life and National Security: Q&A with Christof Heyns and Yuval Shany on General Comment 36
• General Comment No. 37 (2020) – Article 21: Right of Peaceful Assembly

Africa and Middle East

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

• General comment No.3 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Right to Life (Article 4) (2015)
• General Comment No. 4 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Right to Redress for Victims of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment (Article 5) (2017)

Europe

Committee for the Prevention of Torture

(Factsheets and extracts from General Reports of the CPT are included in this list as they establish the practical steps States need to take to implement their obligations in the prevention of torture)

• Imprisonment (extract from the 2^nd General Report 1992)
• Police custody (extract from the 2^nd General Report 1992)
• Health care services in prisons (extract from the 3^rd General Report 1993)
• Foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation (extract from the 7^th General Reports 1997)
• Women deprived of their liberty (extract from the 10^th General Report 2000)
• Developments concerning CPT standards in respect of imprisonment (extract from the 11^th General Report 2001)
• Developments concerning CPT standards in respect of police custody (extract from the 12^th General Report 2002)
• Deportation of foreign nationals by air (extract from the 13^th General Report 2003)
• Combating Impunity (extract from the 14^th General Report 2004)
• Safeguards for irregular migrants deprived of their liberty (extract from the 19^th General Report 2009)
• Electrical discharge weapons (extract from the 20^th General Report 2010)
• Access to a lawyer as a means of preventing ill-treatment (extract from the 21^st General Report 2011)
• Solitary confinement of prisoners (extract from the 21^st General Report 2011)
• Documenting and reporting medical evidence of ill-treatment (extract from the 23^rd General Report 2013)
• Juveniles deprived of their liberty under criminal legislation (extract from the 24^th General Report 2015)
• Situation of life-sentenced prisoners (extract from the 25^th General Report 2016)
• Remand detention (extract from the 26^th General Report 2017)
• Complaints mechanisms (extract from the 27^th General Report 2018)
• Immigration detention (Factsheet 2017)
• Transport of detainees (Factsheet 2018)
• Women in prison (Factsheet 2018)
• Living space per prisoner in prison establishments: CPT standards (2015)
• 30th General Report of the CPT (2020)

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance

• General Policy Recommendation No 11 on Combating Racism and Discrimination in Policing (2007)