At the beginning of the session, the Committee hears in closed meetings representatives of specialized agencies and other United Nations bodies who would like to provide information on the State whose report is under consideration. It is not uncommon for the Committee to also get acquainted, usually during an informal lunchtime meeting, with the views of representatives of civil society who wish to inform Committee members about certain issues.
The Committee then proceeds to consider each report in an open and constructive dialogue with the delegation of the State party concerned. This delegation usually includes the Ambassador of the State party representing it to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other diplomatic staff, as well as representatives of government departments and institutions competent in matters related to the Covenant. It is not uncommon for a delegation to include ministers, heads of government departments, as well as representatives of civil society and minority groups. The Committee's consideration of the initial report usually takes a day and a half, and subsequent periodic reports are considered during two half-day meetings. The consideration begins with an introductory statement on the report of the delegation of the State party, which often includes answers to a list of questions. The Committee members then ask the representatives questions in order to obtain or deepen information on the implementation and practical realization in the State party of the rights enshrined in the Covenant. At the same time, questions are often asked that were not fully covered in the answers to the list of questions.
The duty to ask questions to representatives of the State, as a rule, rests with the members of the relevant CCGS, although other members of the Committee also have the opportunity to do so.
The dialogue between the Committee and the delegation of the State party on various issues may take place in several stages.
The dialogue is also facilitated by the organization, if possible, of the first meeting in the afternoon and the second meeting the next morning, so that the delegation can receive information and clarifications from the authorities of the State party in the evening. After the conclusion of the dialogue, the delegation is usually given some time to provide the Committee with additional information.
After the conclusion of the dialogue, the Committee prepares detailed concluding observations on the relevant report.
The concluding observations, which were decided to be prepared in 1992, include the results of the dialogue and the conclusions of the Committee, which makes them a useful tool for monitoring the human rights situation in a particular State.
The Country Rapporteur, assisted by the members of the relevant CCGS, is responsible for preparing draft concluding observations, which are distributed to all members of the Committee for comments and which are then submitted for discussion and proposed for adoption by the Committee at a plenary meeting. The concluding observations are consensus-approved comments on the positive and negative aspects of the implementation of the Covenant by the State party. As a rule, they are divided into the following sections: introduction, positive factors, main issues of concern, and recommendations. Concluding observations tend to focus on the last section, in which issues of concern to the Committee are accompanied by its recommendations on measures to address such concerns.
The final paragraph defines the deadline by which the next periodic report should be submitted to the Committee.
The concluding observations have a dual purpose: to assist the State in the preparation of future reports and to assist the Committee in identifying critical issues to be addressed in connection with subsequent reports. All concluding observations are available in the treaty body database of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf ).