The work of commissions and missions In the United Nations context, the terms “international commission of inquiry” and “international fact-finding mission” have been used to designate a variety of temporary bodies of a non-judicial nature, established either by an intergovernmental body or by the Secretary-General or the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and tasked with investigating allegations of violations of international human rights, international humanitarian law or international criminal law and making recommendations for corrective action based on their factual and legal findings.19 The work of commissions/missions is crucial for strengthening human rights protection in multiple ways. The commissions/missions can provide an historical record of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and influence changes in law and practice to advance human rights. Critically, they assist in ensuring accountability for serious violations, which is fundamental in order to deter future violations, promote compliance with the law and provide avenues of justice and redress for victims. International human rights investigations have furnished crucial elements to judicial procedures. They have done so in the inquiries of ad hoc international tribunals and of the International Criminal Court. Many of them have delved into the root causes of the violence and violations, triggering transitional justice mechanisms that address the rights to the truth, justice, remedies and reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, and have thus informed more sustainable peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts, and assisted in the political settlement of conflicts. In fulfilling their mandates, commissions/missions often review judicial and other accountability mechanisms and their recommendations focus on strengthening legislation and institutions so as to improve accountability for past violations at the national or international level, and provide redress to victims. In some instances special domestic accountability mechanisms have been established to address the violations investigated by the commission/mission and to give effect to its recommendations. Considerable publicity around the work of commissions/missions, for example, those investigating the events in Gaza or the Syrian Arab Republic, has increased the public profile of such investigations and highlighted the important role they play in the implementation of international human rights norms and international humanitarian law, and in supporting accountability for perpetrators in instances where other mechanisms have failed. 19 Within the United Nations, fact-finding and investigation of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are carried out by a variety of bodies and mechanisms, including special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council, field offices of OHCHR, including human rights components integrated in peace missions, and certain treaty-based bodies. While the methodological standards applicable to professional fact-finding and investigations are the same, regardless of the entity that conducts the activity, this publication focuses on international commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions as defined above. GUIDANCE AND PRACTICE 7