A/HRC/6/21 page 10 Annex In response to the request of the Human Rights Council in its resolution 4/7, the Office of Legal Affairs submitted the following paper. Legal Options for Placing the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on a Par with other Treaty Monitoring Bodies Background 1. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) was established by a resolution of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985) to carry out the monitoring functions assigned to ECOSOC in Part IV of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.1 2. The CESCR consists of independent experts that monitor implementation of the Covenant by its States parties. All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the CESCR on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially within two years of becoming party to the Covenant and thereafter every five years. The CESCR examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”. 3. The CESCR cannot consider individual complaints, although a draft optional protocol to the Covenant is under consideration that could give the CESCR competence in this regard. 4. The CESCR meets in Geneva and normally holds two sessions per year, consisting of a three-week plenary and a one-week pre-sessional working group. The CESCR also publishes its interpretation of the provisions of the Covenant, known as general comments. 5. Under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant, States parties undertake to submit reports to the Secretary-General of the United Nations “on the measures which they have adopted and the progress made in achieving the observance of the rights recognized” in the Covenant. The Secretary-General then transmits copies to ECOSOC for consideration under articles 21 and 22. ECOSOC resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985 established the CESCR to carry out the monitoring functions assigned to ECOSOC in Part IV of the Covenant. 1 All other treaty bodies have been established by the States Parties through provisions in the relevant treaties. See the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR) (Part IV, arts. 28-45); Convention against Torture, 1984, (CAT) (Part II, arts. 17-24); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1966 (CERD) (Part II, arts. 8-16); Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC) (Part II, arts. 43-45); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979 (CEDAW) (Part V, arts. 17-22); Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, 1990 (Part VII, arts. 72-78); Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 (not in force) (arts. 34-40); International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006 (not in force) (Part II, arts. 26-36).