In shape
You do not have to fill in a specific form, but the committee recommends that you use the application form it has created.
Download the application form.
Language
The submission must be prepared in one of the languages of the United Nations: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish or Russian.
Content
In your submission you must clearly state:
- your full name, nationality, date of birth and contact information;
- the country that has violated your rights;
- what human rights have been violated;
- how they were violated (events in chronological order from beginning to end);
- when it happened;
- which public authority or its employees were involved;
- a detailed description of where you have complained about this violation (which institutions or officials you have approached about this situation and what their responses have been, from the first complaint to the final decision);
- the application must be dated and signed.
Your submission must be clear, understandable, and sufficiently supported by facts and law to show that a violation has actually occurred. Try to write only about the facts and issues related to the violation you are complaining about. To help the UN Human Rights Committee better understand what happened, write in simple language, do not turn away from the issue and avoid emotions, profanity and aggressive statements.
Documents
Attach to the application all documents related to the situation you are complaining about (in particular, previously written complaints and responses to them). If you are writing a submission on behalf of someone else, add a power of attorney that gives you the right to do so. If these documents are not in one of the languages of the United Nations, then you must attach a full translation or a summary of these documents.
Due date
You should aim to lodge a complaint as soon as possible after exhausting all national complaint mechanisms. The application must be sent without delay, together with all additional documents. There is no deadline for its submission, but if it is submitted 5 years after the last national level decision, then the committee can refuse to consider it.
Address
The submission should be sent to the following address:
Petitions and Inquiries Section
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Legal assistance
You are not entitled to free legal aid to prepare a complaint or to represent yourself before the UN Human Rights Committee. Neither the UN Human Rights Committee nor the State of Latvia will provide or pay for your legal assistance.
If you wish to use the services of a lawyer, you must cover the related expenses yourself.
Detailed information on how to prepare an application is available on the website of the UN Human Rights Committee .