The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its (First) Optional Protocol

The Human Rights Committee has, in its many years of existence, developed an extensive jurisprudence made up of concluding observations prepared in response to state reports, general comments on the interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and views expressed in individual cases submitted under the First Optional Protocol. The ICCPR as a human rights treaty confers rights on individuals. Individuals are not only the bearers of these rights but also the ones who, filing their complaints to the Human Rights Committee, enable the committee to clarify the meaning of these rights. This book unites all elements of the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee. The views concerning individuals in concrete situations form the core of this book.