Treaty body

In international law, a treaty body (or treaty-based body) is an internationally established body of independent experts that monitor how States party to a particular international legal instrument are implementing their obligations under it.

Definitions

The International Law Commission defines an "expert treaty body" as:

"a body consisting of experts serving in their personal capacity, which is established under a treaty and is not an organ of an international organization."[1]

A research guide published by the UN library lists key characteristics of human rights treaty-based bodies:[2]

  • They "derive their existence from provisions contained in a specific legal instrument",
  • They hold more narrow mandates, being often limited to the set of powers codified in the treaty establishing them,
  • The audiences that treaty bodies address are limited to countries having ratified the legal instrument (as opposed to UN agencies which enjoy a quasi-universal audience),
  • Their decision-making often involves consensus.

Notably, the experts conforming treaty bodies usually serve in their personal capacity (i.e., not representing their country). Treaty bodies are distinct from "international organizations" as such, like United Nations agencies, programs, or other sui generis international organizations.

There are a number of treaty bodies, in particular in relation with international human rights law.[3][4] However, there are also treaty bodies related to non-human rights instruments such as the UPOV or the INCB.[5] The mandates of treaty bodies is generally defined in the treaty that establishes them,[6] and sometimes by General Assembly decisions or resolutions. Treaty bodies sometimes perform additional functions than the sole monitoring of treaty compliance.[7]

List of treaty bodies
List of treaty bodies (non-exhaustive)
Treaty body Treaty Date of creation Headquarter
Committee Against Torture United Nations Convention against Torture 1987 Geneva
Human Rights Committee (CCPR) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1977 Geneva
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1968 Vienna
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
International Whaling Commission (IWC) International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling 1946 Impington
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 Montreal
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Nagoya Protocol on Fair Access and Benefit-Sharing
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 1968 Geneva

See also

References
  1. UN General Assembly (2019). ""Subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties" Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2018 [A/RES/73/202]". undocs.org. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  2. Kurtas, Susan. "Research Guides: UN Documentation: Human Rights: Treaty-based Bodies". research.un.org. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  3. "Treaty Bodies". ISHR Academy. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  4. "OHCHR | TreatyBodies". www.ohchr.org. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  5. Riboulet-Zemouli, Kenzi; Krawitz, Michael A. (2021-02-24). "Voluntary Contribution to INCB Guidelines on Medical Cannabis – Due Diligence, Good Faith, & Technical Concerns". Rochester, NY. SSRN 3829901.
  6. "UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies". International Justice Resource Center. 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  7. "A Rough Guide to the Human Rights Treaty Bodies". Universal Rights Group. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
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