The system of protection and promotion of civil and political rights in no country is perfect. Consequently, the Committee's four-pronged task, taking into account the specific circumstances of each country, is that each State party should:
ensure the implementation of those laws, policies and practices that enhance the effective exercise of these rights; abandon those measures that impede or dilute the rights enshrined in the Covenant, or modify them appropriately how;
Take appropriate positive measures in cases where the State party does not make efforts to promote and protect these rights;
and to take due account, in the light of the provisions of the Covenant, of the consequences of the new laws, policies and practices that the State party proposes to introduce in order to prevent a departure from the practical realization of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.
The Committee's work has a real impact on promoting the exercise of civil and political rights in many countries, despite the difficulties that sometimes arise in identifying direct cause-and-effect relationships. In this regard, numerous examples can be cited where the consideration of an individual complaint has had positive results, whether in the form of compensation, commutation of the death penalty with another punishment, retrial, investigation of specific facts or other form of restoration of violated rights by the State party. The adoption of final decisions in such cases also led to changes in the laws that caused violations of the Covenant. The results of the individual communications reviewed during the year can be found in the Committee's annual report to the General Assembly, which is published as Supplement No. 40 to the official records of the Assembly session.
Similarly, in the context of the reporting process, there are many examples of recommendations of the Human Rights Committee that have directly or indirectly led to positive changes in laws, policies and practices.
An example of a large-scale survey of this influence at the national level is the study by K. Haines and F. Conducted in 2001 and entitled "The Impact of the United Nations Human Rights Treaties at the Domestic Level" ("The impact of United Nations human rights treaties at the national level"). In addition, the International Law Association has prepared a study on the impact of treaty body recommendations on national courts and tribunals. The Committee's follow-up procedure, which invites States to provide information throughout the year on the priority recommendations contained in the concluding observations, will facilitate the task of tracking concrete results in this area. Nor should the fact of a broader impact be ignored in cases where the Committee makes a recommendation on an issue or decides on an individual complaint, and other States parties facing similar problems can use the Committee's analysis and take appropriate action. It is assumed that the preparation of general comments, the object of which is not an individual State party, has a similar effect. Similarly, the establishment of procedures to "verify" new laws or policies before they are adopted for compliance or compatibility, among other treaties, with the provisions of the Covenant, allows violations to be prevented before they occur.