Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

346 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
2. Non-judicial mechanisms taking individual
petitions
Many of the Special Procedures established by the UN Human
Right Council to address particular issues (“thematic
mandates”), to which independent experts are appointed as
“mandate-holders”, will receive and address individual
“communications”. Once a communication is received, they will
take it into consideration, and then, at their discretion, they will
decide whether to contact the concerned State requesting an
answer to the allegations. The communications will generally be
published in the Annual Report of the relevant Special
Procedure. These communications do not depend on whether
the State concerned is a party to a particular human rights
treaty, and domestic remedies do not need to be exhausted.
Furthermore, Special Procedures are not bound by the
prohibition of duplication of complaints, so that it is possible to
present the same communication to more Special Procedures
or to Special Procedures and one judicial or quasi-judicial
human rights body. In addition to these Special Procedures,
there also exists the Human Rights Council Complaint
Procedure established to address consistent patterns of gross
and reliably attested violations of all human rights and all
fundamental freedoms occurring in any part of the world and
under any circumstances. 941
a) Basic Procedural Standards of Special Procedures
The UN Special Procedures follow in the consideration of
communications some basic procedural standards that are
enshrined in the Manual of Operations of the Special
Procedures of the Human Rights Council 942 and in the Code of
941
See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/complaints.htm.
942
Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures of the Human
Rights Council, adopted at the 15 th Annual Meeting of Special
Procedures, June 2008, available at