REPORTING TO THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY BODIES TRAINING GUIDE: Part I — Manual 4. The Reporting Procedure This Chapter covers the whole reporting procedure. It explains in detail each stage of the procedure, starting with the preparation of the report up to the follow-up of recommendations and implementation by a State party. It clarifies the difference between two existing reporting procedures: Standard Treaty Reporting Procedure and Simplified Reporting Procedure (SRP) and provides guidance on the use of SRP. It also discusses the content and format of different types of State party reports: initial and periodic reports; common core document (CCD) and responses to the List of Issues (LOI); and List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR). The reporting procedure is also known as the reporting cycle. It begins with preparation of the State party’s report, followed by its consideration by a Treaty Body; and ends with the State party’s followup and implementation of the recommendations issued by a Treaty Body. Each time a cycle ends and a new one starts, the concerned State is required to report back regularly on measures taken to implement the recommendations and on new measures aimed at realizing the rights set forth in the treaty. So the review of a State party forms a continuum and each cycle builds on the preceding one. There are two reporting procedures available to State parties for submitting their reports, namely the Standard Treaty Reporting Procedure and the Simplified Reporting Procedure (SRP). Unlike the Standard Reporting Procedure, the SRP is optional. States can seek to avail themselves of the procedure, and may or may not be granted the opportunity by the Treaty Body, or indeed accept a Treaty Body’s offer to them. The other main difference relates to the manner of reporting, which under the SRP entails responding to specific questions sent in advance to the State party by a Treaty Body. Therefore, the configuration of the reporting cycle under the SRP differs from that of the standard reporting procedure as shown in figure 1 and 2. The Simplified Reporting Procedure is extensively covered in Section 4.3 of this chapter. State parties can also simply continue submitting their reports under the standard reporting procedure. Under this procedure the reporting cycle is consists of six stages, as represented in the figure below. Under the Simplified Reporting Procedure (SRP), the State party does not prepare and submit a report as the first step. Instead, the State responds to a List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LoIPR) that contains specific questions on treaty implementation. The responses of the State party to the List of Issues Prior to Reporting constitute the report of the State party. Under this procedure a Treaty Body will not send a List of Issues to a State party after the submission of its report. Therefore a State party will not be required to submit further written information prior to the constructive dialogue. The SRP thus eliminates one step from the standard reporting cycle. 30