Introduction The Paris Principles provide that NHRIs should promote and protect human rights. The protection aspect of the mandate requires that the NHRI should have the power to investigate and monitor human rights and, in many cases, to accept and investigate individual complaints. Learning objectives After reviewing the chapter, the reader will be able to: ■■ Identify the basic forms of human rights protection undertaken by NHRIs; For all forms of investigation: ■■ efine the powers an institution should have in order to conduct effective invesD tigations; ■■ Identify the processes of investigations; For individual complaint investigation: ■■ Define the purpose of human rights investigation; ■■ escribe the typical stages of a complaint investigation and the purpose each D serves; ■■ efine the main issues and considerations that will influence an institution’s deciD sion to investigate an allegation; ■■ I dentify the types of evidence that may be collected during an investigation and the weight that might be given to each and why; ■■ escribe the interview process generally and the key ways to ensure that the D necessary information is collected during the interview; ■■ escribe the objective of remedies that should be sought if an allegation is conD sidered substantiated, and give examples of possible remedies; and ■■ S ituate the possible steps of the investigation in a logical sequence as suggested in the chapter; For alternative dispute resolution: ■■ escribe the different approaches taken by institutions to alternative dispute D resolution mechanisms; And for general inquiries: ■■ I dentify the types of investigation that an institution might carry out to examine a systemic or general human rights issue; and ■■ Describe the public inquiry function. 76