Fifth Day

The Chairperson, Luis Gallegos, announced that 6 NGOs had submitted accreditation applications, and given the termination of the 7 day waiting period for states to object, these NGOs would be eligible to participate. Receiving no objections the Chair declared the 6 NGOs fully accredited to the Ad Hoc Committee, but did not identify the NGOs.

Japan requested that an informal list of participating experts and their qualifications be provided to each delegation, since lack of advance information about Messers. Quinn and Mathiason had complicated delegate interventions in the previous day's session. Japan also requested the right to return in future debates to the EU's Four Points already discussed. The Chair granted these two requests.

Relationship of a legally binding instrument to the Standard Rules and other UN human rights instruments.

In accordance with Mexico's suggestion of the previous day, the last of the EU's Four Points, on monitoring mechanisms, was put off for Thursday, as stated in the Programme of Work. Following the format of beginning discussions with an introduction on the topic by an expert, as suggested by the US on the previous day, the Chair read from a prepared statement by Prof. Mathiason, who was unable to attend. Prof. Mathiason began by setting forth the background to the Standard Rules, namely that they were drafted and adopted as an alternative to a convention. As they were never intended to become legal obligations for states, they were drafted in less precise terms than would be used in a Convention. Also, the world has changed since the time the Rules were drafted, and so the Rules do not address all relevant issues. Nevertheless, they continue to provide "normative guidance." In addition, a new convention would strengthen and bolster, rather than undermine, existing human rights conventions.

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