The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force in 1976, converting the civil and political rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including freedom of expression, assembly and religion, the right to a fair trial and freedom from arbitrary detention, into binding treaty obligations on the states that ratify it. It is monitored by the Human Rights Committee, to which states parties report periodically.
Facts
Key ProvisionAdopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entering into force in 1976, it converts a large share of the civil and political rights first proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into binding treaty obligations: rights to life, liberty and security of person, freedom from torture and arbitrary detention, fair trial, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, and the right to take part in genuinely periodic elections by universal and equal suffrage. Article 1, common to both 1966 covenants, proclaims that all peoples have the right of self-determination. States parties report periodically to the Human Rights Committee, and the Optional Protocol allows individuals to bring complaints once domestic remedies are exhausted. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The Covenant converts the civil and political rights the Declaration first proclaimed in 1948 into binding treaty obligations, monitored by the Human Rights Committee.
Influenced
Influenced By
The Universal Declaration's civil and political rights were converted into binding treaty law by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
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