UNDP-OHCHR TOOLKIT 11 In the course of the development of the Common Country Assessment, UNCT staff should assess the need for an NHRI, or assess the effectiveness of the NHRI (in countries that have one), depending on the situation, as a standard part of the assessment and analysis of the development and human rights situations. 11 In the course of contributing to the UN Development Assistance Framework and in-country programming processes, UNCTs should develop a common platform for interventions, when asked by the country to do so, as a standard part of the assessment and analysis of the development. E-Discussion: “The Role of UN Agencies and UN Country Teams in Supporting National Human Rights Institutions”. An excellent resource for learning about NHRIs from the UNCT perspective is E. Filmer-Wilson’s 27 March 2008 synthesis of the HuriTALK. Final Summary of E-Discussion: The Role of UN Agencies and UN Country Teams in Supporting National Human Rights Institutions. (2008). http://www.undg.org/ docs/8751/E-mail-Final-Summary.doc 1.3. Introducing the Paris Principles The 1991 “Paris Principles” (“Principles Relating to the Status and Functioning of National Institutions”) set out the basic international standards for NHRIs and mark the beginning of standardisation of norms for NHRIs. They were adopted by a group of NHRIs at an international workshop and were later endorsed by the former United  Nations Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly. A NHRI which complies with the Principles is eligible to be accredited by the SubCommittee of the ICC. A brief history In 1991, the UN Centre for Human Rights (now the OHCHR) convened a conference of national human rights institutions to define common attributes that NHRIs should possess. The meeting produced a set of standards. Because that meeting was held in Paris, these standards came to be known more simply as the “Paris Principles”. The Paris Principles have become part of the human rights lexicon. The Vienna Declaration qualified any mention of national institutions with the phrase “established in conformity with the Paris Principles”. The Paris Principles were endorsed by a UN General Assembly Resolution in 199318 and today are broadly accepted as the test of an institution’s legitimacy and credibility vis-à-vis international standards. A NHRI that fails to meet these standards may still be a legal institution in the national context, but it will have failed to comply with international norms. 1.3.1 Key features The Paris Principles are standards that all national human rights institutions should meet. They also contain “additional” or optional principles that apply only to institutions with what is called “quasijurisdictional competence” in the Paris Principles. These additional principles apply to institutions authorised to receive individual complaints and to render decisions on them. Since these additional principles are optional, they are not dealt with in detail here. The Paris Principles are minimum conditions. NHRIs should comply with them in order to be effective in terms of human rights protection and promotion, and to be accredited by peer institutions within the UN system.19 However, the Paris Principles should not be understood as preventing States from creating NHRIs that have additional powers or from exceeding the standards set in the Paris Principles. But the Principles must be met in order for a national human rights institution to be accredited. Under the Paris Principles, NHRIs are required to: 11 Protect human rights, including by receiving, investigating and resolving complaints, mediating conflicts and monitoring activities; and 11 Promote human rights, through education, outreach, media, publications, training and capacity-building activities, as well as by advising and assisting governments. As independent institutions with a mandate to combat discrimination and promote and protect human rights and, subject to their enabling statutes, NHRIs are directly engaged in work related to: 11 Civil and political rights 11 Economic, social and cultural rights Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions, General Assembly Resolution 48/134, 20 December 1993. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/parisprinciples.htm 18 The process by which a national institution is accredited as complying with the Paris Principles is described in Chapter 10 of this Toolkit. 19 10