fice of Legal Affairs to verify if your country is a party to a human rights treaty: http://treaties.un.org/pages/Treaties.aspx?id=4&subid=A&lang=en Meetings of States parties are open meetings; non-States parties and others are welcome to observe the proceedings. Can my delegation submit credentials for meetings of states parties in advance? Delegations may find it convenient to request from their capitals the credentials for all upcoming meetings at the same time. For this purpose, advance notice of upcoming meetings of states parties are published in the Official Journal and are also posted in the calendar of the OHCHR New York webpage (http://newyork.ohchr. org). Separate credentials should be submitted for each meeting of states parties and should contain the names of the delegates who will be present in New York at the time of the meeting. If composition of the delegation changes after the credentials have been submitted, new credentials should be submitted. What is the quorum for the meetings of States parties? The provisions of the human rights treaties specify that treaty body members must be elected at a meeting of states parties at which at least two-thirds of all States parties are represented (quorum). In the past, there have been a number of instances of meetings of States parties where the quorum has not been reached, resulting in a delay in the start of proceedings or, on occasion, the postponement of the meeting to a later date. In order to avoid these occurrences, States parties are reminded to ensure that their representatives arrive at the designated meeting room in time for the scheduled start of the meeting. 19