After the committee decides on the admissibility of the complaint, it proceeds to consider it on the merits, indicating the reasons on the basis of which it concludes that there is or is not a violation in accordance with the applicable provisions of the treaty. As noted above, a number of States have made substantive reservations that may limit the scope of the human rights obligations they have undertaken under the relevant treaties.
In most cases, the committee will refuse to consider complaints concerning matters covered by the reservation, although in exceptional circumstances it may consider the reservation inadmissible and proceed to consider the complaint despite the reservation.
Information on what the committee considers to be covered by the scope of the rights contained in the treaty for which it is responsible is contained in its decisions on specific cases,11 its so-called general comments interpreting the meaning of various articles, and its concluding observations on reports submitted periodically by States parties. These documents are available on the OHCHR website. There are also a number of scientific articles and textbooks on the jurisprudence of various committees.