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An optional protocol is a treaty that complements and adds to an existing human rights
treaty. For this reason, only States that have already agreed to be bound by a parent treaty
may choose to be parties to optional protocols.
There are only two kinds of optional protocols in the UN Human Rights Treaty System:
a) Those that address a new substantive area that has not been included in the original text of a
treaty. For example the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which considers the question of the abolition of the death penalty; and
b) Those that address procedural aspects that may affect the way a treaty operates and is enforced.
For instance, by creating new compliance mechanisms as in the case of the Optional Protocol to the
CEDAW Convention.
Most optional protocols establish grievance procedures by which individuals and groups of
individuals can file formal complaints in cases where States have violated rights recognized in a
human rights treaty. In this connection, when an optional protocol creates one or more enforcement
mechanisms, the monitoring body established by the parent treaty administers these. Through
complaints and inquiry procedures, the international bodies in charge of supervising the
implementation of a human right treaty can elaborate on the meaning of the rights contained on this
treaty and contribute to the development of international jurisprudence.