A Practical Guide to the UN Special Procedures

Special Procedures is the collective term used for a group of the human rights experts tasked by the UN with investigating, and reporting on, the situation of human rights around the world. They also provide advice and recommendations for the implementation of those rights. They are mostly individuals, titled Special Rapporteur or Independent Expert, but some of the Procedures are also Working Groups typically comprising five members, one from each official UN region. The different titles can denote differences in working methods but any such distinctions are usually minor. The Special Procedures are established by resolutions of the UN?s main inter-governmental body for dealing with human rights issues ? until 2006 the Commission on Human Rights, and now, the Human Rights Council (HRC).