A/HRC/13/43 (b) The establishment of a communications procedure under the Convention would contribute to strengthening child protection by providing a specific forum in which all rights and principles enshrined in the Convention would be considered by a Committee with a unique, multidisciplinary expertise based on the innovative and creative manner in which the Convention was designed; (c) Questions regarding the ability of the child to submit a complaint and the most appropriate body to assess the maturity of a child should be considered in light of lessons learned from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as experiences developed at the national level; (d) While the Convention does not specify a minimum age for the child’s views to be heard, it does state that consideration of the child’s views has to be assessed against criteria that are both objective (age) and subjective (level of maturity); (e) In view of the vulnerable status of children, there is an objective risk that children may be manipulated when submitting a complaint. An optional protocol should devote particular attention to this aspect and put in place specific guarantees to avoid or limit this risk to the maximum extent possible; (f) The overarching principle of the evolving capacities of the child contained in article 5 of the Convention and further detailed in general comment No. 7 should guide the interpretation of the role of the family or other person(s) legally responsible for the child. There is no contradiction between the child’s right to be protected and the child as a rights bearer; (g) Lessons learned and best practices relating to children’s participation in drafting legislation on their fundamental rights should guide the consideration of participation of children in the work of the open-ended working group. 69. The Chairperson-Rapporteur in his summary of this debate highlighted that the recommendations on redress mechanisms made in the context of the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children should be taken into consideration when deciding on the elaboration of an optional protocol. While some speakers seemed to be of the view that the need for a communications procedure was implicitly recognized in the Convention others expressed doubts in that regard and indicated that the issue needed further discussion. The Chairperson also noted the importance of a child-friendly procedure which took into consideration the evolving capacity of the child and the uniqueness of the rights and principles set up in the Convention. VIII. Implications and feasibility of a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child 70. The Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Ms. Lee, made a presentation on the feasibility of a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A paper on the same topic was submitted by Nevena Vuckovic Sahovic, former member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 71. Ms. Lee referred to the workload of the Committee. On two occasions, when confronted with an extensive backlog of State reports, the Committee had decided to work in two parallel chambers. To avoid the backlog problem in the future, the Committee was asking States parties to combine periodic reports. Currently, the Committee was reviewing its methods of work with a view to providing a more durable long-term solution to that problem. 14 GE.10-10385