OSCE/ODIHR Opinion on the Draft Amendments to the Act on Establishment of the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights IV. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. International Standards on National Human Rights Institutions 12. NHRIs are independent bodies with the mandate to protect and promote human rights. They are “a key component of effective national human rights protection systems and indispensable actors for the sustainable promotion and protection of human rights at the country level”.3 13. Internationally recognized rules on the mandates and competencies of NHRIs can first and foremost be found in the United Nations Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the so-called “Paris Principles”.4 Adopted by the UN General Assembly, these principles set out minimum standards on the establishment and functioning of NHRIs, in terms of pluralism, transparency, guarantees of functional and institutional independence and effectiveness “in order [for an NHRI] to be considered credible by its peer institutions and within the UN system”. 5 The implementation of the Paris Principles and evaluation of NHRIs against these principles is undertaken by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institution’s (hereinafter “GANHRI”) Sub-Committee on Accreditation (hereinafter “SCA”).6 The SCA publishes reports on the accreditation applications of states, reviews their status and provides them with status accreditation every five years.7 The status of 3 4 5 6 7 See UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report to the UN General Assembly (2007), A/62/36, par 15, available at https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/461/09/PDF/N0746109.pdf?OpenElement. The UN Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Paris Principles”) were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Paris (7-9 October 1991), and adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993, available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/StatusOfNationalInstitutions.aspx. UNDP-OHCHR, Toolkit for Collaboration with National Human Rights Institutions (hereinafter “UNDPOHCHR Toolkit”, December 2010), page 242, available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/NHRI/1950-UNDP-UHCHR-Toolkit-LR.pdf. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), formerly known as the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions (hereinafter “ICC”), was established in 1993 and is the international association of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from all parts of the globe. The GANHRI promotes and strengthens NHRIs in accordance with the Paris Principles, and provides leadership in the promotion and protection of human rights. See Article 15 Global Alliance Of National Human Rights Institutions GANHRI Statute (version adopted on 22 February 2018), available at https://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/GANHRIAccreditation/GANHRI%20Statute/EN_GANHRI_Statute_adopt ed_22.02.2018_vf.pdf. Accreditation is the official recognition that an NHRI meets the requirements of or continues to comply with the Paris Principles. The SCA awards A, B or C Status. Status A means that an NHRI is fully in compliance with the Paris Principles and a voting member in the work and meetings on NHRIs internationally; Status B means that the NHRI does not yet fully comply with the Paris Principles or has not yet submitted sufficient documentation in this respect. Status B NHRIs have observer status in the work and meetings of NHRIs; Status C Institutions do not comply with the Paris Principles. The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights currently has Status B; see Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Chart of the Status of National Institutions Accredited - Accreditation Status as of 26 January 2018 https://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/Documents/Status%20Accreditation%20Chart.pdf; see also ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation Report and Recommendations of the Session of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) (March 2014), pages 8-11, available at 5