A/68/44 fourth session of the Committee, composed of Ms. Gaer, Mr. Abdoulaye Gaye, Mr. Grossman and Ms. Nora Sveaass,1 after a public consultation held with stakeholders on 22 November 2011 and taking into account the numerous written comments submitted by States parties, United Nations entities, NGOs and others, the Committee, after a final reading of the text, adopted a general comment on the implementation of article 14 by States parties (see annex X). The general comment may also be found on the OHCHR website (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/comments.htm). M. Reporting guidelines 22. At its forty-ninth and fiftieth sessions, the Committee, due to its very heavy workload, had no time to continue to discuss the revision of its reporting guidelines in the light of the optional reporting procedure (“list of issues prior to reporting”). N. General Assembly resolution 67/232 23. At its fiftieth session, the Committee welcomed General Assembly resolution 67/232 of 24 December 2012, in which the Assembly authorized the Committee to continue to meet for an additional week per session as a temporary measure, with effect from May 2013 until the end of November 2014, in order to address the backlog of reports of States parties and individual complaints awaiting consideration, further to its request to the General Assembly for appropriate financial support to this effect. 24. At the same session, the Committee continued to discuss measures to improve the effectiveness of its working methods and costs in order better to manage its workload and programmes of work. Along these lines, it decided, inter alia, that it will continue to evaluate the optional reporting procedure and to encourage States parties to report under the procedure, including in its concluding observations. O. Examination of reports 25. In the light of General Assembly resolution 67/232 authorizing it to continue to meet for an additional week per session as a temporary measure, the Committee decided, at its fiftieth session, to continue to examine eight State parties’ reports at its May session and nine at its November session, maintaining a dialogue with representatives of States parties of five hours per report. P. Special report requested from the Syrian Arab Republic 26. Further to the special follow-up report requested from the Syrian Arab Republic in May 2012 (see CAT/C/SYR/CO/1/Add.2), the Committee regrets the absence of information received from the State party during the period under consideration. For more detailed information, please see chapter IV of the present report. 1 GE.13-46043 Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/65/44), chap. I, para. 27. 5