Compliance with the reporting requirements of human rights conventions

Abstract

Compliance with the reporting requirements of human rights conventions is the basis for monitoring how, and how well, the states parties to the conventions are working towards the implementation of the norms of the conventions. This article aims to understand why some states comply with reporting requirements and others do not, and why some report on time and others do not. The article is an empirical test of the potential effects of regime type, government effectiveness, level of economic development, and political stability upon compliance with the reporting requirements of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, by states that have ratified those conventions. The period covered is from 1996 to 2006. Results show that government effectiveness is the most important variable affecting state compliance with reporting requirements. Surprisingly, compliance by liberal democracies has significantly declined in the last decade. Furthermore, within the period covered, liberal democracies are also less likely to comply with reporting requirements than are other regime types.