HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS DRAFT GENERAL COMMENT ON RIGHT TO VOTE, TAKE PART IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS, ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICE
Press Release
HR/CT/465
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS DRAFT GENERAL COMMENT ON RIGHT TO VOTE, TAKE PART IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS, ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICE
19960329 The Human Rights Committee this morning continued its consideration of a draft general comment on article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. That article concerns the right to take part in public affairs, to vote or be elected and to have access to public service.General comments are aimed at assisting States parties in the interpretation of individual articles of the Covenant. They describe the overall scope of a given article and its place in the Covenant.
The Committee continued discussion of a 27-paragraph conference room paper, date 21 March 1995, containing the recommendations by the working group charged with drafting the comment. The Committee resumed its discussion of the draft by addressing matters related to subparagraph (c) of the article, which refers to the right to have access on general terms of equality to public service.
The full text of article 25 reads as follows:
"Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:
"(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;
"(b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors;
"(c) To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country."
Article 2 provides for States parties to respect the rights recognized in the Covenant "without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status".
Discussion this morning focused mainly on issues relating to affirmative action measures and the principle of merit in appointing members to civil service.
It was argued that affirmative action measures could lead to discrimination, although they might be necessary to ensure equality for parts of the population which were underrepresented in the civil service. However, such measures must not neglect the principle of merit, and some experts felt that merit should prevail.
The question of political opinion of public servants was also addressed, including for such posts as judges and attorneys general. It was noted that there were different systems. For example, in some countries the attorney general was a political appointee and in others an elected official. Clarification was also sought on the meaning of "public service" and "civil service", whether they referred to the same sector and whether the judiciary was part of the public service.
The point was made that there was a fine line between interpreting the Covenant and giving opinion on how countries should be run, which was not the Committee's mandate. In certain countries affirmative action was advocated and in others merit was given precedence. Thus, references to measures related to affirmative action should be deleted from the general comment on article 25.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue consideration of the draft general comment on article 25 of the Covenant.
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