A/HRC/37/4 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its twenty-eighth session from 6 to 17 November 2017. The review of Czechia was held at the 1st meeting, on 6 November 2017. The delegation of Czechia was headed by the Deputy Minister for Human Rights, Martina Štěpánková. At its 10th meeting, held on 10 November 2017, the Working Group adopted the report on Czechia. 2. On 13 February 2017, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Czechia: Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Czechia: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/28/CZE/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/28/CZE/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/28/CZE/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Uruguay was transmitted to Czechia through the troika. These questions are available on the extranet of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The Deputy Minister for Human Rights highlighted the contribution of Czechia to the success of the universal periodic review through its efforts to implement the recommendations received during the previous cycle. The national report had been prepared through a transparent approach and coordinated by the Section for Human Rights at the Office of the Government. Government human rights advisory bodies served as a platform for the authorities to meet with representatives of civil society and academia, leading to recommendations on improvements on human rights issues being made to the Government. Many measures had been taken to implement the 129 recommendations accepted during the previous cycle. 6. Czechia had ratified almost all the international human rights treaties it had committed to ratifying after the second review. It was seeking ways to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), and was preparing the legislative changes to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention). It did not plan to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 7. Czechia would considerably strengthen its implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by entrusting the Ombudsperson with its independent monitoring as of January 2018. The Ombudsperson was an independent institution that monitored the human rights situation in the country and advised State authorities, the Government and the parliament. A special strategy on the implementation of the 2