A/HRC/10/24 page 10 mandate-holders set up a Committee task force in charge of revising the manual further in order to reflect the changes in working methods brought about by the code of conduct and other new developments in the Council. 29. The revised manual presented by the task force integrated comments received on the draft from Governments and civil society organizations. Substantive changes related to the appointment of mandate-holders, as laid out in Council resolution 5/1; the criteria for taking action on communications and the transmission of urgent appeals to concerned Governments through diplomatic channels, unless agreed otherwise, as provided for by the code of conduct; Government responses to be appended to mission reports; and the sharing of public statements with concerned Governments sufficiently in advance of their release. 30. In the discussion that followed, several additions to the manual were proposed by participants, who suggested that the manual should clearly mention that conclusions and recommendations were addressed to Governments as well as to international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders. It was felt that the manual should refer to public statements instead of just press statements, so as to use a terminology consistent with that of the code of conduct. The meeting agreed that the Manual was an operational and living document and that it would be updated whenever necessary. Participants acknowledged the value of the manual in providing guidance to mandate-holders in the course of their work, so as to assist them in fulfilling their mandate in compliance with the code of conduct. It was proposed that the manual include a reference to types of communications other than letters of allegation or urgent appeals, such as letters relating to draft legislation or ongoing international negotiations, in order to reflect the full range of working methods. 31. Participants conveyed their appreciation to the task force for its work and adopted the draft revised manual ad referendum by consensus. An editorial team composed of five mandate-holders would finalize the manual for publication within six weeks of the closing of the annual meeting. B. Code of conduct and internal advisory procedure to review practices and working methods 32. The Chairperson introduced the interim internal advisory procedure for consideration and adoption by the fifteenth annual meeting. She reminded the mandate-holders that the aim of the procedure was to facilitate the implementation of the code of conduct and the manual of the human rights special procedures, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness and independence of the special procedures system as a whole and of its individual mandate-holders, as well as to providing assistance to all stakeholders where questions relating to the implementation of the code of conduct or to the manual were raised. 33. At the fourteenth annual meeting, the Committee was authorized to give appropriate consideration to any matter concerning the working methods of mandate-holders that might be brought to its attention. In the discussion concerning the role of the Committee under the internal advisory procedure, it was stressed that the procedure could contribute to enhance the core principle of independence of mandate-holders, and should ensure that any failure by