applicable instruments, with respect to the Member States of the OAS, only when the petitions fulfill the requirements set forth in those instruments, in the Statute, and in these Rules of Procedure. , 49 × Article 49. Receipt of the Petition - The Commission shall receive and examine any petition that contains a denunciation of alleged violations of the human rights set forth in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in relation to the Member States of the Organization that are not parties to the American Convention on Human Rights. and 50 × Article 50. Applicable Procedure - The procedure applicable to petitions concerning Member States of the OAS that are not parties to the American Convention shall be that provided for in the general provisions included in Chapter I of Title II; in Articles 28 to 43 and 45 to 47 of these Rules of Procedure. of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission as amended in July 2008; Rule 26 × Article 26. Initial Review 1.The Executive Secretariat of the Commission shall be responsible for the study and initial processing of petitions lodged before the Commission that fulfill all the requirements set forth in the Statute and in Article 28 of these Rules of Procedure. 2.If a petition or communication does not meet the requirements called for in these Rules of Procedure, the Executive Secretariat may request that the petitioner or his or her representative satisfy those that have not been fulfilled. 3.If the Executive Secretariat has any doubt as to whether the requirements referred to have been met, it shall consult the Commission. of the Rules however provides for an initial procedural stage that can be equated to the stage of consideration of prima facie admissibility of the application. It is described by an author in the following terms: "the Commission receives the petition and registers it. In practice, it is the responsibility of the Executive Secretariat of the Commission to ascertain whether the petition is admissible prima facie. If so, it registers the petition and opens a file [...]. If the correct format has not been followed, [it] may request the petitioner to correct any deficiencies". Ludovic Hennebel, La Convention américaine des droits de l'homme - Mécanismes de protection et étendue des droits et libertés, Bruylant, Bruxelles 2007, p. 163. 6 The UN Secretary General maintains on a permanent basis a register of the communications that he submits to the Committee ; however, under no circumstance can he enter in the register a communication made against a State that is not a party to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, see Rules 84 and 85 of the Rules of Procedure of the Human Rights Committee, United Nations Doc, CCPR/C/3/Rev. 7, 4 August 2004, see http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf (Symbol)/CCPR.C.3.Rev.7.Fr? Opendocument (site consulted on 9 December 2009). When he receives such communication, the Secretary General limits himself to informing its author that the communication cannot be received owing to the fact that the State against which it was instituted is not a party to the Optional Protocol, Manfred NowaK, U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - CCPR Commentary, 2nd Revised Edition. N.P. Engel Publisher, Kehl am Rhein, 2005, pp.824-825. 7 It should be mentioned that the reference to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is of limited interest in this regard, given that the question of personal jurisdiction is posed in different terms before these two Courts. In the Inter-American Court, individuals having no direct access to the Court, the question of personal jurisdiction indeed arises only in regard to State Parties; in the European Court where individuals have direct access to the Court, it has automatic jurisdiction solely on the ground of the participation of the member States of the Council of Europe in the European Convention on Human Rights. 8 Rule 38, paragraph 5, of the current Rules of Procedure of the International Court of Justice states that: "When the Applicant State proposes to found the jurisdiction of the Court upon a consent thereto yet to be given or manifested by the State against which such application is made, the application shall be transmitted to that State. It shall not however be entered in the General List, nor any action be taken in the proceedings, unless and until the State against which such application is made consents to the Court's jurisdiction for the purposes of the case" (emphasis added). 9 "It is a well established principle in International Law that no State can be compelled to submit its disputes with other States to mediation, arbitration or to any method of peaceful solution without its consent", Permanent Court of International Justice, Statute of Eastern Carelia, Advisory Opinion of 23 July 1923, Series B, p.27. 10 "Such consent may be given once and for all in the form of a freely accepted obligation: it may however be given in a specific case beyond any pre-existing obligation". id 11 Paragraph 6 of the English version, unlike the French, provides that the declaration may be freely made on two different occasions: "at the time of the ratification of this Protocol or any time thereafter" (emphasis 6