You must submit your complaint in writing.
Form
You do not need to fill in any specific form, but the Committee strongly encourages using the model form it has developed.
Download the Model Complaint Form.
Language
You need to submit your complaint in one of the official languages of the United Nations: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish or Russian.
Content
In your application, you need to clearly state:
- your full name, nationality, date of birth and contact details
- the State which has violated your rights
- which human rights have allegedly been violated
- how were were they allegedly violated (what happened, in chronological order, starting from the beginning to the end)
- when it happened
- which state institutions or officials were involved
- a detailed description of which institutions or officials you have already complained to and what their responses were (from the first complaint to the last decision)
- the application needs to be signed and dated
You application needs to be clear and understandable and have sufficient arguments based on facts and law to show that there was a violation. Try to write only about facts and issues which were related to the violation you are complaining about. To help the Human Rights Committee to better understand what has happened, try to keep the text simple, focused and avoid emotional or derogatory language.
Documents
Your application must include all the documents related to the situation you are complaining about, especially the complaints you have already made and the responses you received. If you are writing on someone else’s behalf, you need to add a proof of the power of attorney which authorizes you to do so.
If these documents are not written in one of the official languages of the United Nations, you need to add a full, or a summary translation of these documents.
Time limits
You should submit your complaint as soon as you have exhausted all the available national complaint mechanisms. The application should be sent to the Committee as soon as possible, with all the required documents. Although there is no set deadline for sending the application, if it is submitted 5 years after the last national decision, the Committee may refuse to examine it.
Address
Applications must 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 aid
You are not entitled to a free lawyer to represent or assist you with your complaint to the Human Rights Committee. Neither the Human Rights Committee nor the Slovenian state will provide you with a lawyer, or pay for your lawyer’s services.
If you want to hire a lawyer, you have to take into account that you will have to pay for their services yourself.
Detailed information about what to write in your application is available on the website of the Human Rights Committee.