UN Human Rights Committee v. UN Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Committee should not be confused with the more high-profile Commission 

on Human Rights, a Charter-based mechanism, or its replacement, the Human Rights Council. 

Whereas the Commission on Human Rights was a political forum where states debated all 

human rights concerns (since June 2006, replaced by the Council in that function), the Human 

Rights Committee is atreaty-based mechanism where a group of experts examines reports 

and rules on individual communications pertaining only to the International Covenant on Civil 

and Political Rights. It remains disputed whether the Human Rights Committee's "Views under 

article 5(4) of the Optional Protocol" qualify as decisions of a quasi-judicial body or simply 

constitute authoritative interpretations on the merits of the cases brought before them.

The members of the Human Rights Committee, who must be "of high moral character and 

recognized competence in the field of human rights", are elected by the member states but on 

an individual basis, not as representatives of their countries. They serve four-year terms, with 

one-half of their number elected every second year at the General Assembly.