Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
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Article 1
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Article 2
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The Committee shall consider a communication inadmissible when:
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a) The communication is anonymous;
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b) The communication constitutes an abuse of the right of submission of such communications
or is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention;
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c) The same matter has already been examined by the Committee or has been or is being
examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement;
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d) All available domestic remedies have not been exhausted. This shall not be the rule
where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring
effective relief;
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e) It is manifestly ill-founded or not sufficiently substantiated; or when
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f) The facts that are the subject of the communication occurred prior to the entry into
force of the present Protocol for the State Party concerned unless those facts continued
after that date.
Article 3
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Subject to the provisions of article 2 of the present Protocol, the Committee shall bring any communications submitted to
it confidentially to the attention of the State Party. Within six months, the receiving
State shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements clarifying
the matter and the remedy, if any, that may have been taken by that State.
Article 4
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1 At any time after the receipt of a communication and before a determination on the
merits has been reached, the Committee may transmit to the State Party concerned for
its urgent consideration a request that the State Party take such interim measures
as may be necessary to avoid possible irreparable damage to the victim or victims
of the alleged violation.
Article 5
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The Committee shall hold closed meetings when examining communications under the present
Protocol. After examining a communication, the Committee shall forward its suggestions
and recommendations, if any, to the State Party concerned and to the petitioner.
Article 6
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1 If the Committee receives reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations
by a State Party of rights set forth in the Convention, the Committee shall invite
that State Party to cooperate in the examination of the information and to this end
submit observations with regard to the information concerned.
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2 Taking into account any observations that may have been submitted by the State Party
concerned as well as any other reliable information available to it, the Committee
may designate one or more of its members to conduct an inquiry and to report urgently
to the Committee. Where warranted and with the consent of the State Party, the inquiry
may include a visit to its territory.
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4 The State Party concerned shall, within six months of receiving the findings, comments
and recommendations transmitted by the Committee, submit its observations to the Committee.
Article 7
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2 The Committee may, if necessary, after the end of the period of six months referred
to in article 6, paragraph 4, invite the State Party concerned to inform it of the measures taken in response
to such an inquiry.
Article 8
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Each State Party may, at the time of signature or ratification of the present Protocol
or accession thereto, declare that it does not recognize the competence of the Committee
provided for in articles 6 and 7.
Article 9
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The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the depositary of the present
Protocol.
Article 10
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The present Protocol shall be open for signature by signatory States and regional
integration organizations of the Convention at United Nations Headquarters in New
York as of 30 March 2007.
Article 11
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The present Protocol shall be subject to ratification by signatory States of the present
Protocol which have ratified or acceded to the Convention. It shall be subject to
formal confirmation by signatory regional integration organizations of the present
Protocol which have formally confirmed or acceded to the Convention. It shall be open
for accession by any State or regional integration organization which has ratified,
formally confirmed or acceded to the Convention and which has not signed the Protocol.
Article 12
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1 “Regional integration organization” shall mean an organization constituted by sovereign
States of a given region, to which its member States have transferred competence in
respect of matters governed by the Convention and the present Protocol. Such organizations
shall declare, in their instruments of formal confirmation or accession, the extent
of their competence with respect to matters governed by the Convention and the present
Protocol. Subsequently, they shall inform the depositary of any substantial modification
in the extent of their competence.
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4 Regional integration organizations, in matters within their competence, may exercise
their right to vote in the meeting of States Parties, with a number of votes equal
to the number of their member States that are Parties to the present Protocol. Such
an organization shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its member States exercises
its right, and vice versa.
Article 13
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2 For each State or regional integration organization ratifying, formally confirming
or acceding to the present Protocol after the deposit of the tenth such instrument,
the Protocol shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the deposit of its
own such instrument.
Article 14
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Article 15
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1 Any State Party may propose an amendment to the present Protocol and submit it to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall communicate
any proposed amendments to States Parties, with a request to be notified whether they
favour a meeting of States Parties for the purpose of considering and deciding upon
the proposals. In the event that, within four months from the date of such communication,
at least one third of the States Parties favour such a meeting, the Secretary-General
shall convene the meeting under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment
adopted by a majority of two thirds of the States Parties present and voting shall
be submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly of the United Nations
for approval and thereafter to all States Parties for acceptance.
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2 An amendment adopted and approved in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article shall
enter into force on the thirtieth day after the number of instruments of acceptance
deposited reaches two thirds of the number of States Parties at the date of adoption
of the amendment. Thereafter, the amendment shall enter into force for any State Party
on the thirtieth day following the deposit of its own instrument of acceptance. An
amendment shall be binding only on those States Parties which have accepted it.
Article 16
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A State Party may denounce the present Protocol by written notification to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations. The denunciation shall become effective one year after the
date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.
Article 17
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The text of the present Protocol shall be made available in accessible formats.
Article 18
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The Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts of the present Protocol
shall be equally authentic.