OSCE/ODIHR Opinion on the Draft Act on the Independent National Human Rights Institution of Iceland organizations, and with the UN and other international/regional human rights mechanisms, as well as capacity development, public outreach and advocacy on human rights issues; [par 31] B. to specify the relationships between the NHRI and other domestic human rights institutions, the division of competences between all of these bodies, and modalities of their co-operation; [par 22] C. to remove from Article 2 of the Draft Act reference to the possibility for the Presidium of the Althingi (Parliament) to request reports from the NHRI; [pars 2627] D. to add under Article 7 that sanctions should be imposed for the failure to provide the NHRI with the requested information and that the NHRI shall be granted unannounced and free access to inspect and examine any public premises, documents, equipment and assets without prior written notice; [pars 38 and 40] E. to supplement Article 4 as follows: - - specify the selection criteria and incompatibilities for becoming a member of the Board of Directors; [pars 43-44] state that out of the five members, no more than three Directors (and alternates) should be of the same sex, while considering additional modalities to ensure pluralism in the composition of the Board; [pars 45-47] provide that vacancies for members of the Board of Directors shall be publicized broadly; [par 47] specify whether the term of office of the members of the Board shall be renewable or not, and the parliamentary majority required for such appointments, while stating that at least the majority of Board members shall be remunerated full-time; [pars 48-49] F. to outline the criteria and procedures for terminating the mandates of the members of the Board of Directors and of its Chairperson, including in cases of dismissals, as well as the consequences arising from such termination; [pars 53-56] G. to clearly specify in the Draft Act that the members of the Board of Directors and NHRI staff shall benefit from functional immunity, even after the end of their mandate or employment with the NHRI, while also specifying clear rules and procedures for lifting such immunities; [pars 62-67] H. to add provisions clearly stating that the qualification requirements, selection criteria and modalities, as well as employment conditions for NHRI staff, should ensure gender balance and diversity at all staff levels; [pars 70-71] and I. to include provisions regarding the NHRI’s financial autonomy, implying that the allocated budgetary funds – contained in a separate budget line – should be such as to ensure the full, independent and effective discharge of the responsibilities and functions of the institution, while considering the introduction of safeguards to protect against unwarranted budgetary cutbacks. [pars 73-78] Additional Recommendations, highlighted in bold, are also included in the text of the opinion. 5