12. Days of General Discussion

Some human rights treaty bodies such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights hold a "Day of General Discussion" during a session. The Day of General Discussion is a public meeting open to participation of Government representatives, UN bodies and specialized agencies, UN human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other interested organizations or individuals. The purpose is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the UN human rights treaties as they relate to specific articles or topics.

When documents concern a specific Day of Discussion, or when papers presented at a Day of Discussion are issued, a conference name authority record should be established.

Papers presented at the Day are indexed like other individual conference papers:
- Assign content code A21 in tag 089
- Assign the conference name heading in tag 711
- Assign the specific title of the paper in tag 245
- Cite the name of the Day of Discussion, which usually appears at head of title, in a tag 500 note.

Example 1: Document concerning a Day of Discussion

089 $b B03
191 $a E/C.12/2008/SR.18 $b E/C.12/ $c 40
245 10 $a Summary record of the 18th meeting, held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Friday, 9 May 2008 : $b Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 40th session
611 27 $a Day of General Discussion on the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life (2008 : Geneva)
650 17 $a RIGHT TO CULTURE
650 17 $a CULTURAL PARTICIPATION
 

Example 2: Paper presented at a Day of Discussion

089 $b A21
191 $a E/C.12/40/4 $b E/C.12/ $c 40
245 10 $a Integrating cultural concerns in the interpretation of general individual rights : $b lessons from the international human rights case law : background paper / $c submitted by Julie Ringelheim
500 $a At head of title: Day of General Discussion: Right to Take Part in Cultural Life (Article 15 (1) (a) of the Covenant), Friday, 9 May 2008.
650 17 $a RIGHT TO CULTURE
650 17 $a HUMAN RIGHTS
650 17 $a INTERNATIONAL LAW
650 17 $a TREATY INTERPRETATION
650 17 $a JUDGEMENTS
650 27 $a MINORITIES
700 1_ $a Ringelheim, Julie
711 2_ $a Day of General Discussion on the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life (2008 : Geneva)

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Last updated: 19 August 2009