OSCE/ODIHR Opinion on the Draft Federal Law on the Support to the National Human Rights Institution of Switzerland clearly in the Draft Act (or a separate act).103 In that respect, practice varies greatly across the OSCE region with ombudspersons or human rights commissioners being recognized as having equal status to judges of the Constitutional or Supreme Courts, the Public Prosecutor or the Governor of the National Bank. Generally, the status and remuneration of Board members should correspond to other high-ranking positions within the state apparatus.104 74. Finally, the Draft Act does not outline the criteria and procedures for terminating the mandates of the leadership body, including cases of dismissal, or the consequences arising from such termination. Further, the Draft Act does not elaborate on the circumstances in which the mandate of the members of the Board may be terminated prior to the expiry of their term. Clear regulations and objective criteria are needed for cases of dismissal, but also for situations where the Chairperson is not able to perform his/her duties due to certain circumstances such as resignation, death, illness, conviction for a serious criminal offence, etc. It would be advisable to specify such cases in the Draft Act (or a separate act). 75. According to General Observation 2.1, in order to address the Paris Principles’ requirements for a stable mandate, without which there can be no independence, NHRI legislation must also contain an independent and objective dismissal process following pre-defined criteria, similar to that accorded to members of other independent State agencies. The grounds for dismissal must be clearly defined and appropriately confined to those actions and situations, which impact adversely on the capacity of the members to fulfill their mandates.105 Where appropriate, the legislation should specify that the application of a particular ground for dismissal must be supported by the decision of a court or other independent body with appropriate jurisdiction.106 The legal drafters should supplement the Draft Act (or a separate act) accordingly. The relevant legislation should provide for a public procedure whereby the members of the governing body should be heard prior to the decision on dismissal; there should also be a procedure in place allowing them to challenge such decisions in court.107 76. Finally, it is also good practice for the NHRI legislation to provide for the adoption of a code of ethics that is binding on the members of the NHRI’s governing body, as well as all its employees and other co-operating persons or entities. 5.2. Pluralism 77. 103 104 105 106 107 Article 5 of the Draft Act provides for the pluralist representation of relevant social forces within the organization of the NHRI. This generally reflects the wording of Paris Principles B.1, which refers to the need to ensure “the pluralistic representation of social forces (of the civilian society) involved in the promotion and protection of human See also e.g., op. cit. footnote 77, par 58 (2017 ODIHR Opinion on the Draft Act on the Independent National Human Rights Institution of Iceland). See e.g., Article 10 (5) of the Ombudsman Act (1995) of Malta referring to remuneration equivalent to the judge of superior courts; Section 8 of the Law on the Public Defender of Rights (1999, as amended 2009) of the Czech Republic which refers to the salary, severance pay, reimbursement of expenses and benefits in kind equal to that of the President of the Supreme Audit Office; Article 12 of the Law on Establishment of a Mediator of Luxembourg (2003) referring to the specific upper salary scale applicable in the public service; all are available at <http://www.legislationline.org/topics/topic/82>. See also op. cit. footnote 17, Section 4.1.1 on Rank and Salary (2016 Venice Commission’s Compilation of Opinions concerning the Ombudsman Institution). Op. cit. footnote 9, General Observation 2.1. ibid. See e.g., Venice Commission, Opinion on the Law on the People's Advocate (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Moldova, adopted by the Venice Commission at its 103rd Plenary Meeting (Venice, 19-20 June 2015), CDL-AD(2015)017, par 61, <http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-AD(2015)017-e>. 24