The State party is required, within six months of receiving the Committee’s decision and recommendations, to submit a written response detailing any action it has taken. The Committee may subsequently invite the State party to submit further information. This may take the form of an update in the State party’s subsequent periodic report20 to the Committee. E. Procedure under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 13 December 2006, promotes the full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of their human rights and fundamental freedoms and sets out obligations for State parties designed to ensure the legal and practical enjoyment of these rights and freedoms. The complaint mechanism under the Convention is established by its Optional Protocol, which was adopted on the same day. It is a separate treaty open to State parties to the Convention. States that have become a party to the Optional Protocol recognize the competence of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities—a panel of 18 independent experts that meets twice a year—to receive complaints from individuals subject to their jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation of the provisions of the Convention.21 Additional pointers Complaints are to be submitted in writing or in an alternative format that enables a legible copy of its content to be transmitted to the State party. A complaint will be inadmissible not only if the same matter is being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement but also if it has already been examined by such procedure or the Committee itself. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities applies the criteria set forth in article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, recognizing the legal capacity of the author or alleged victim, regardless of whether this capacity is recognized in the State party against which the complaint is directed. Under its rules of procedure the Committee can obtain, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, any documentation from organizations within the United Nations system or other bodies that may be of assistance Periodic reports submitted by State parties under article 18 of the Convention. For more information about the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, see its web page: www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx (accessed 28 March 2013). 20 21 18