What do the UN human rights treaty bodies do?

The Core International Human Rights Instruments and their monitoring bodies.
Source: Core International Instruments

There are 9 main UN human rights treaties, plus their associated Optional Protocols. You have already looked at several of these. You will find the text of all nine treaties on the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) website. Read the text of the treaties that we have not already looked at in earlier modules (not in detail, but to familiarize yourself with the issues they cover).

Before turning to a detailed look at what these treaty bodies do, check to see which treaties and protocols Canada has ratified.

Questions

Which 7 of the 9 main human rights treaties has Canada ratified?
Which 5 of the 8 optional protocols to those treaties has Canada ratified?

To answer, consult the ratifications for each treaty at the UN Treaty Collection.

Reading

Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Simple Guide to the UN Treaty Bodies, published by the Geneva-based International Service for Human Rights.

Video: What do the treaty bodies do?

Watch the following video lecture by the Professor, “What do the treaty bodies do?”

Video transcript (.pdf, 103 kb).

If you are having trouble viewing the video on the page, watch the lecture on YouTube.

Module 6