Chapter 2 • The Major Universal Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation Covenant”.5 The legal duty to ensure their enjoyment implies an obligation to take positive steps to see to it v first, that domestic laws are modified when necessary in order to comply with the State’s international legal obligations; and v second, that these laws are indeed effectively implemented in practice by all public organs and officials, such as the courts (including administrative tribunals), prosecutors, police officers, prison officials, schools, the military, hospitals and the like. Upon ratification of a treaty aimed at the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, States have a legal duty to modify their legislation so as to have it conform to their new international obligations. States have also to continue to ensure that their legal obligations are effectively implemented by all relevant organs, including all courts of law. 2.1.2 The rights recognized Being a treaty of a legislative nature, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees a long list of rights and freedoms, not all of which fall within the themes covered by this Manual and which will not, therefore, be dealt with in detail. However, any existing General Comments adopted by the Human Rights Committee relating to specific articles will be referred to in footnotes; these comments provide information about the Committee’s understanding of the articles concerned. Moreover, the second volume of the Committee’s annual reports to the General Assembly contains Views and decisions adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol, which include indispensable information for judges, prosecutors and lawyers regarding the interpretation of the terms of the Covenant.6 5 General Comment No. 3 (Article 2) in UN doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.5, Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies (hereinafter referred to as United Nations Compilation of General Comments), p. 112, para. 1; emphasis added. The texts of the General Comments are also published in the Human Rights Committee’s annual reports; their text can also be found at the following UN web site: www.unhchr.ch. 6 In the earlier years of the Committee’s existence, its annual reports to the General Assembly consisted of a single volume, containing both an account of the discussions of the periodic reports and the Views and decisions adopted under the Optional Protocol. 32 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers