Key issues in Liechtenstein foreign policy 56 | Protection of human rights and the rule of law As in other areas of international law, human rights and the rule of law undergo dynamic progressive development. In recent years, several new legally binding human rights instruments have been negotiated at the European and global levels. In most cases, Liechtenstein actively contributes to the negotiations on the new agreements; most of the negotiations were covered by Liechtenstein’s representations abroad. Liechtenstein has also signed and ratified several agreements relevant to human rights over the past few years. Most of these agreements include a reporting procedure, in which the state party gives detailed account to a treaty body regarding domestic implementation of the guarantees under the agreement. In the last five years, Liechtenstein has prepared country reports under the following agreements, submitted them to the competent treaty body, and – where applicable – had a delegation present them to the treaty body: UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis­ crimination against Women; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict; European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Among reporting mechanisms, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human Liechtenstein advocates rights situation of each country by the UN Human Rights Council plays a special role. In the UPR, the states monitor each other reciprocally. Liechtenstein underwent its first UPR in 2008; the second UPR is scheduled for January 2013. The UPR also offers Liechtenstein the opportunity to participate in the review of other countries and there­by to enter into a human rights dialogue with them. a periodic review of the human rights situation in each country. Monitoring of domestic implementation of international standards is accomplished not only by submitting and presenting country reports, but also by way of country visits. Especially the monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe visit Liechtenstein regularly. In the first half of 2012, for example, both the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Liechtenstein. With regard to the OSCE mechanisms, election observations are especially relevant. An ODIHR election observation team visited Liechtenstein prior to the 2009 parliamentary elections. The timely preparation of country reports and the preparation and accompaniment of on-site visits are very time-consuming for the Office for Foreign Affairs and the other specialist offices concerned. It is expected that the work will continue to be equally time-consuming in the future. These procedures, which regularly attest Liechtenstein’s generally high level of human rights protection, have generated important impulses for the further development of human rights standards in Liechtenstein.