National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

A/RES/48/134View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, published in 1994.

What other versions does this mandate have?

20 versions · 1979–2018

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/72/181

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2018	A/RES/72/181	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights	2,976	25%Compare
2016	A/HRC/RES/33/15	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights	2,265	17%Compare
2016	A/RES/70/163	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights	2,291	23%Compare
2014	A/HRC/RES/27/18	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights	1,927	22%Compare
2014	A/RES/68/171	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights	2,111	32%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

17 reports · 2003–2019

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2019	A/74/226	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/72/181
2018	A/HRC/39/20	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/33/15
2018	A/HRC/39/21	Activities of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the Paris Principles) report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/33/15
2017	A/72/277	National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/163
2016	A/HRC/33/34	Activities of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (Paris Principles) report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/27/18

What subjects does this mandate have?

18 subjects

Advisory Services Conferences Cooperation Between Organizations Declarations Human Rights Advancement Human Rights Education Human Rights Institutions Human Rights Violations Information Centres Information Dissemination Information Exchange Institution Building Laws and Regulations Principles Programmes of Action Public Information Technical Cooperation Training Programmes

What’s in this document?

13 operative paragraphs

See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1987, Supplement No. 5 and corrigenda (E/1987/18 and Corr.1 and 2), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1988, Supplement No. 2 and corrigendum (E/1988/12 and Corr.1), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1989, Supplement No. 2 (E/1989/20), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1990, Supplement No. 2 and corrigendum (E/1990/22 and Corr.1), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1991, Supplement No. 2 (E/1991/22), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1992, Supplement No. 2 (E/1992/22), chap. II, sect. A.

Ibid., 1993, Supplement No. 3 (E/1993/23), chap. II, sect. A.

Resolution 217 A (III).

Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.

Takes note with satisfaction of the updated report of the Secretary-General, 11/ prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolution 46/124 of 17 December 1991;

Reaffirms the importance of developing, in accordance with national legislation, effective national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights and of ensuring the pluralism of their membership and their independence;

Encourages Member States to establish or, where they already exist, to strengthen national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights and to incorporate those elements in national development plans;

Encourages national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights established by Member States to prevent and combat all violations of human rights as enumerated in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and relevant international instruments;

Requests the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat to continue its efforts to enhance cooperation between the United Nations and national institutions, particularly in the field of advisory services and technical assistance and of information and education, including within the framework of the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights;

Also requests the Centre for Human Rights to establish, upon the request of States concerned, United Nations centres for human rights documentation and training and to do so on the basis of established procedures for the use of available resources within the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Advisory Services and Technical Assistance in the Field of Human Rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to respond favourably to requests from Member States for assistance in the establishment and strengthening of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights as part of the programme of advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights, as well as national centres for human rights documentation and training;

Encourages all Member States to take appropriate steps to promote the exchange of information and experience concerning the establishment and effective operation of such national institutions;

Affirms the role of national institutions as agencies for the dissemination of human rights materials and for other public information activities, prepared or organized under the auspices of the United Nations;

A/48/340.

Welcomes the organization under the auspices of the Centre for Human Rights of a follow-up meeting at Tunis in December 1993 with a view, in particular, to examining ways and means of promoting technical assistance for the cooperation and strengthening of national institutions and to continuing to examine all issues relating to the question of national institutions;

Welcomes also the Principles relating to the status of national institutions, annexed to the present resolution;

Encourages the establishment and strengthening of national institutions having regard to those principles and recognizing that it is the right of each State to choose the framework that is best suited to its particular needs at the national level;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

Principles relating to the status of national institutions

Competence and responsibilities

A national institution shall be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights.

A national institution shall be given as broad a mandate as possible, which shall be clearly set forth in a constitutional or legislative text, specifying its composition and its sphere of competence.

A national institution shall, inter alia, have the following responsibilities:

To submit to the Government, Parliament and any other competent body, on an advisory basis either at the request of the authorities concerned or through the exercise of its power to hear a matter without higher referral, opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports on any matters concerning the promotion and protection of human rights; the national institution may decide to publicize them; these opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports, as well as any prerogative of the national institution, shall relate to the following areas:

Any legislative or administrative provisions, as well as provisions relating to judicial organizations, intended to preserve and extend the protection of human rights; in that connection, the national institution shall examine the legislation and administrative provisions in force, as well as bills and proposals, and shall make such recommendations as it deems appropriate in order to ensure that these provisions conform to the fundamental principles of human rights; it shall, if necessary, recommend the adoption of new legislation, the amendment of legislation in force and the adoption or amendment of administrative measures;

Any situation of violation of human rights which it decides to take up;

iii

The preparation of reports on the national situation with regard to human rights in general, and on more specific matters;

Drawing the attention of the Government to situations in any part of the country where human rights are violated and making proposals to it for initiatives to put an end to such situations and, where necessary, expressing an opinion on the positions and reactions of the Government;

To promote and ensure the harmonization of national legislation regulations and practices with the international human rights instruments to which the State is a party, and their effective implementation;

To encourage ratification of the above-mentioned instruments or accession to those instruments, and to ensure their implementation;

To contribute to the reports which States are required to submit to United Nations bodies and committees, and to regional institutions, pursuant to their treaty obligations and, where necessary, to express an opinion on the subject, with due respect for their independence;

To cooperate with the United Nations and any other organization in the United Nations system, the regional institutions and the national institutions of other countries that are competent in the areas of the promotion and protection of human rights;

To assist in the formulation of programmes for the teaching of, and research into, human rights and to take part in their execution in schools, universities and professional circles;

To publicize human rights and efforts to combat all forms of discrimination, in particular racial discrimination, by increasing public awareness, especially through information and education and by making use of all press organs.

Composition and guarantees of independence and pluralism

The composition of the national institution and the appointment of its members, whether by means of an election or otherwise, shall be established in accordance with a procedure which affords all necessary guarantees to ensure the pluralist representation of the social forces (of civilian society) involved in the promotion and protection of human rights, particularly by powers which will enable effective cooperation to be established with, or through the presence of, representatives of:

Non-governmental organizations responsible for human rights and efforts to combat racial discrimination, trade unions, concerned social and professional organizations, for example, associations of lawyers, doctors, journalists and eminent scientists;

Trends in philosophical or religious thought;

Universities and qualified experts;

Parliament;

Government departments (if these are included, their representatives should participate in the deliberations only in an advisory capacity).

The national institution shall have an infrastructure which is suited to the smooth conduct of its activities, in particular adequate funding. The purpose of this funding should be to enable it to have its own staff and premises, in order to be independent of the Government and not be subject to financial control which might affect its independence.

In order to ensure a stable mandate for the members of the national institution, without which there can be no real independence, their appointment shall be effected by an official act which shall establish the specific duration of the mandate. This mandate may be renewable, provided that the pluralism of the institution's membership is ensured.

Methods of operation

Within the framework of its operation, the national institution shall:

Freely consider any questions falling within its competence, whether they are submitted by the Government or taken up by it without referral to a higher authority, on the proposal of its members or of any petitioner;

Hear any person and obtain any information and any documents necessary for assessing situations falling within its competence;

Address public opinion directly or through any press organ, particularly in order to publicize its opinions and recommendations;

Meet on a regular basis and whenever necessary in the presence of all its members after they have been duly convened;

Establish working groups from among its members as necessary, and set up local or regional sections to assist it in discharging its functions;

Maintain consultation with the other bodies, whether jurisdictional or otherwise, responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights (in particular ombudsmen, mediators and similar institutions);

In view of the fundamental role played by the non-governmental organizations in expanding the work of the national institutions, develop relations with the non-governmental organizations devoted to promoting and protecting human rights, to economic and social development, to combating racism, to protecting particularly vulnerable groups (especially children, migrant workers, refugees, physically and mentally disabled persons) or to specialized areas.

Additional principles concerning the status of commissions

with quasi-jurisdictional competence

A national institution may be authorized to hear and consider complaints and petitions concerning individual situations. Cases may be brought before it by individuals, their representatives, third parties, non-governmental organizations, associations of trade unions or any other representative organizations. In such circumstances, and without prejudice to the principles stated above concerning the other powers of the commissions, the functions entrusted to them may be based on the following principles:

Seeking an amicable settlement through conciliation or, within the limits prescribed by the law, through binding decisions or, where necessary, on the basis of confidentiality;

Informing the party who filed the petition of his rights, in particular the remedies available to him, and promoting his access to them;

Hearing any complaints or petitions or transmitting them to any other competent authority within the limits prescribed by the law;

Making recommendations to the competent authorities, especially by proposing amendments or reforms of the laws, regulations and administrative practices, especially if they have created the difficulties encountered by the persons filing the petitions in order to assert their rights.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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