ing and content of their respective treaties. Furthermore, the general comments promote the implementation of the treaties by drawing the attention of States parties to insufficiencies disclosed by a large number of reports, and by inciting renewed attention to particular provisions of the respective treaties from States parties, United Nations agencies and NGOs with a view to progressively realizing the established rights. 64. Other treaty bodies adopt general recommendations in which they make authoritative interpretations about the concrete meaning of specific articles of their respective treaties based on the examination of reports and information received from States parties. CEDAW, CERD and CESCR issue general recommendations to all States parties. CEDAW and CERD report their general recommendations to the General Assembly and CESCR reports them to the Economic and Social Council. Both general comments and general recommendations have made a major contribution to the development of substantive human rights law. 65. In addition to the above practices, some committees are able to address individual complaints of human rights violations and make decisions on their admissibility and express views on their merits. Individuals can submit complaints under five of the above treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrants Workers and Members of Their Families. In order for individuals to bring complaints, two conditions need to be satisfied. First, they must be addressed against a State party to the treaty. Secondly, the State party must have recognized the competence of the committee established under the relevant treaty to consider individual complaints (by means of an optional clause or protocol). 66. The two major stages in any individual complaints procedure are the admissibility and the merits. In order for the committee to find a complaint admissible, the complaint must satisfy the formal requirements of the procedure. In general, the complaint must be filed by the victim or his or her representative, in written form and signed. All domestic remedies should have been exhausted, unless they were unavailable or unreasonably prolonged. The merits of the case refer to its substance, where the committee states its reasons for concluding that a violation of the treaty has or has not occurred. If the committee finds a violation of an individual's rights under the particular treaty, it invites the State party to provide information within three months on the steps it has taken to deal with the committee's views. If the State party fails to take appropriate action, the committee refers the case for follow-up in order to consider further measures to be taken. For example, the Human Rights Committee established its Special Rapporteur on Follow-up of Views in order to address with concerned States parties their particular difficulties in complying with the Committee's views. According to reports submitted by this Special Rapporteur, around 30 per cent of the Committee's views are fully implemented by relevant States parties. 20