The Committee has prepared consolidated guidelines to assist Governments in the preparation of their reports. First, States are invited to submit a so-called "basic document", which contains basic information about the State, its demographic composition and geographical location, as well as its constitutional, legal and political structures and other general information.
Since this information is of common interest to all treaty bodies, it is presented as a single document available to all treaty bodies considering a State's reports.
The State concerned is thus relieved of the obligation to provide the same information again when each of the treaty bodies considers its report. In the event that important changes occur in a State, the basic document is updated so that the treaty bodies can constantly monitor current events of common interest to them.
Initial reports submitted by States to the Committee in accordance with the Covenant should fully cover all substantive articles of the Covenant, including information on the constitutional and legal foundations of the State, which is not provided in the basic document, as well as legal and practical measures taken to implement the Covenant.
It is extremely important that States describe the real situation, in other words, the actual state of affairs in the field of the implementation and enforcement of the rights enshrined in the Covenant, and not be limited to a formal statement of the laws and policies of the State. These requirements are set out in more detail in the guidelines for the preparation of reports published by the Committee, as well as in the "Human Rights Reporting Guidelines" issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
These documents are available in the database of treaty bodies of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf ) and in the online version of the Management training materials series for specialists: (http://www.unhchr.html/menu6/2/training.htm ).
Subsequently, States are encouraged to submit shorter periodic reports, focusing on the issues raised by the Committee in its previous concluding observations and the main developments since the submission of the previous report. All reports should also explain the measures taken to implement any decisions concerning the State on the merits of individual complaints filed under the Optional Protocol.