A/HRC/13/43 72. Ms. Lee mentioned that the methods of work to examine communications could be dealt with in the context of the Rules of Procedure to be adopted once the mechanism was set up. In that regard, the Committee would look at how other communications mechanisms operated. At the Secretariat level, it was estimated that, to begin with, one additional Professional and one General Service staff would be required after the entry into force. 73. Regarding expertise, Ms. Lee indicated that, of the current members of the Committee, seven experts had a legal background. However, in order to address violations to the rights of the child in a holistic and comprehensive manner, a multidisciplinary approach was necessary. As to how to deal with communications, the Committee would certainly look at experiences in other treaty bodies. Possible options might include setting up a working group or designating case rapporteurs. 74. Finally, with respect to international assistance for training programmes in the context of the optional protocol, as raised by some delegations, Ms. Lee recalled that the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights contained a provision to that effect and that the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child could take a similar approach. 75. Ms. Lee’s statement was followed by a discussion in which some delegations raised a number of questions pertaining to procedural and resource issues about the possible future work of the Committee on individual complaints. The issues raised included: (a) The question of delay in the submission of a communication to the Committee, and the fact that the complainant might no longer be a “minor” within the meaning of the Convention before the completion of the procedure; (b) Procedural attribution of the examination of complaints to the Committee to either one of its two chambers, or to a working group created for that purpose; (c) Human and financial resources, including the question of whether resources should be allocated progressively to the Committee’s communications activities, as the number of complaints grows; (d) Concerning the working group, the need to make fast progress in the current process, so as to avoid unnecessary spending of resources; (e) The need to ensure adequate legal expertise within the Committee. 76. In connection with the topic above, a presentation was made by the Secretariat of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in order to address a number of questions raised by delegations in connection with the current functioning of the treaty bodies system regarding the examination of communications. 77. Concerning the Human Rights Committee, the Secretariat indicated that approximately 430 cases were currently pending. Around 100 cases were registered per year and an equal number of final decisions were adopted per year. The Committee against Torture had currently 85 cases pending before it, and a total of approximately 400 cases had been registered under that Committee’s procedure since the early 1990s. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had very few cases registered. The newly created Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities did not have any registered individual communication yet. 78. The Secretariat indicated that only 2 to 2.5 per cent of the complaints considered by the treaty bodies related to situations involving children. Regarding the concern expressed by a number of delegations fearful of possible “forum shopping” by complainants, the Secretariat referred to the existing practice of treaty bodies examining individual communications, such as the Human Rights Committee, noting that most States parties to GE.10-10385 15