These rules of procedure are available for download from the Official Documents Service (http://documents.un.org) and are posted on the OHCHR web pages and the Candiweb e-room. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is formally a functional committee of ECOSOC. Elections of CESCR members are therefore governed by the ECOSOC resolution establishing the Committee (resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985) and ECOSOC rules of procedure apply. Elections are conducted at a meeting of the Council. The Rules of Procedure and practices of the General Assembly provide a guide for interpreting the rules of procedure of the meetings of states parties. What are credentials and how should they be submitted? The rules of procedure of all meetings of States parties convened to elect members of human rights treaty bodies require delegations to submit credentials to the SecretaryGeneral prior to a meeting. Credentials serve the purpose of confirming that the delegate exercising the right of vote of a State party is a bona fide representative empowered to do so by the State. The credentials of representatives and the names of members of the delegation must be issued by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. They should confer full powers on the delegates to vote on behalf of the State Party. Credentials for the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities should be sent to the Secretariat of the Conference in 17