PART 1 are cited in the Commentary – principally, but not exclusively, from the human rights courts that have been established in Europe (the European Court of Human Rights) and the Americas (the Inter-American Court of Human Rights). “Soft law” materials such as guidelines, nonbinding bilateral agreements, resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and its organs, and codes and standards issued by international organizations are referred to frequently throughout the Commentary. Soft law does not impose legal obligations on States and such sources must be used carefully in order to ensure that their legal weight is not overestimated or otherwise distorted. Within these limits such materials can play an extremely important role in relation to several of the questions posed above. They can, for example, help to identify or confirm a particular legal trend or even contribute to the development of customary international law in relation to a particular aspect of trafficking. They can also provide insight into the substantive content of more general legal norms that are contained in treaties. For example, the Trafficking Protocol requires States to take some measures to protect victims of trafficking. Soft law materials are a key resource in determining the actions required by States to fulfil this particular obligation. The human rights focus of this Commentary influences, to some extent, the type of soft law materials available for consideration. Two of the soft law sources that are frequently cited in the Commentary (the work of United Nations treaty bodies and of its special procedures) are explained in detail below. 2.7.1. THE WORK OF THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY BODIES For each of the major international human rights treaties, a Committee of independent experts has been established that is responsible for monitoring the implementation, by States 30 parties, of its provisions.20 As part of their obligations under these treaties, States parties are required to lodge regular reports (called “country reports”) with the respective Committees on the situation with regard to protected rights and the steps that State has taken to fulfil its treaty obligations. The Committees examine these individual “country reports” and a dialogue is initiated with the reporting State. In addition to providing guidance to that State, the “concluding observations” of a treaty body on the performance of a State party can provide useful guidance to other countries on what is expected of them in relation to a particular right or standard set out in the treaty. Five of the treaty bodies – the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – are able to receive and act upon allegations of violations made by individuals against States parties, provided the relevant party has agreed to subject itself to such a procedure.21 These “complaints mechanisms” enable the Committees to apply the relevant law to real situations involving real people, in this way helping to clarify the substantive content of norms. Most treaty-based bodies also engage in active interpretation of the provisions of their founding instrument through “general comments” or “general recommendations”, These are: the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; the Committee against Torture; the Committee on the Rights of the Child; the Committee on Migrant Workers; and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 20 Note that a complaints procedure for the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has been adopted but is not yet in force. Article 77 of the Migrant Workers Convention also establishes an individual complaints procedure, which is not yet in force either. 21 RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING