last revised: 20 July 2004
The Sub-Commission each year adopts its agenda on the first day of the session. The order of items may change in the final version. This year there is also an NGO request to add a new agenda item.
| No. | Agenda Item |
|---|---|
| 1. | Organization of work |
| 2. | Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation, in all countries, with particular reference to colonial and other dependent countries and territories: report of the Sub-Commission under Commission on Human Rights resolution 8 (XXIII) [Note: this item is also commonly referred to as "country situations"] |
| 3. | Administration of justice, rule of law and democracy |
| 4. | Economic, social and cultural rights |
| 5. | Prevention of discrimination: a. Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia; b. Prevention of discrimination and protection of indigenous peoples; c. Prevention of discrimnation and protection of minorities |
| 6. | Specific human rights issues: a. Women and human rights; b. Contemporary forms of slavery; c. New priorities, in particular terrorism and counter-terrorism. |
| 7. | Draft provisional agenda and adoption of the report: a. Draft provisional agenda for the fifty-seventh session of the Sub-Commission; b. Adoption of the report on the fifty-sixth session. |
Typically item 1 is completed on the first day and item 2 during the first week. The order of items 3 through 7 was varied last year, with item 6 being heard at the beginning of the 2nd week, items 3 and 4 during the remainder of the 2nd week, and items 5 and 7 during the final week.
This year an NGO with general consultative status, the Asian Legal Resource Centre, has filed a formal request under Rule 5(4) of the Sub-Commission's Rules of Procedure, for a new agenda item on "... the exceptional collapse of rule of law in Sri Lanka...". See Document UN/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/3 (only available in advance edited version so far at this location). The Sub-Commission will consider this request at the beginning of the session.
The precise schedule is difficult to predict, since deliberations tend to run behind schedule. A rough workplan of which agenda item which will be considered on each day is usually issued by the Bureau of the Sub-Commission after the first day. The order of items below is the official list used for reference purposes from year to year, so that documents and other materials can be keyed numerically to the right agenda item before being filed.