3 - Process for Taking a Case to the Working Group

Summary

As a quasi-judicial body, the WGAD operates without a formal set of rules but is instead guided in implementing its mandate by its Methods of Work, which explain the overall process by which to submit a case for consideration.¹ That said, however, the WGAD considers individual cases brought to it in closed sessions of its members and staff. And the day-to-day operations of the WGAD are run by a small secretariat of staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its Special Procedures Branch, led by its Secretary. This chapter will illuminate and elucidate how an individual case can most effectively be brought to the WGAD, supplementing the procedures described in the Methods of Work with the author’s practical experience gained from having taken more than forty-five cases to the WGAD and having interviewed many current and former WGAD members and staff.