OSCE/ODIHR Opinion on the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Seimas Ombudsmen IV. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. International Standards on Ombuds and Related Institutions 8. The Seimas Ombudsmen are inter alia responsible for protecting human rights and freedoms and investigating complaints of abuse of authority of officials. This brings their Office within the purview of the United Nations Principles relating to the status of national institutions, commonly known as the Paris Principles.5 The Paris Principles do not prescribe any particular model for National Human Rights Institutions, but set minimum standards as the baseline for ensuring the operation and efficiency of NHRIs. Depending on the state and context, NHRIs around the globe have therefore chosen different models for their set-up. However, the basic elements of such institutions that ought to be common to all include independence from the executive, both institutionally and financially, and a broad-based human rights mandate set forth by a constitutional or legislative text. 9. The Paris Principles were adopted by the UN General Assembly as an annex to General Assembly resolution 48/134 in 1993. The commitment contained therein to develop national institutions as instruments for promoting human rights, disseminating human rights information and providing human rights education was reiterated in the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted at the conclusion of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights organized by the UN in the same year6. 10. Since then, the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights7 have passed numerous resolutions on the importance of developing effective, independent and pluralistic national institutions and on the role of Ombudsmen, mediators and other NHRIs in protecting and promoting human rights. 8 11. Also in 1993, the International Coordination Committee of National Institutions (hereinafter “ICC”) was created to review the compliance of NHRIs with the Paris Principles. The ICC is an international association of NHRIs which operates under the auspices of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It evaluates individual NHRI’s through a specific accreditation process. Once accredited with the so-called ‘A’ status, NHRIs become voting members of the ICC and receive their own speaking right at the UN Human Rights Council. In addition, they become entitled to report on their own behalf to the UN treaty bodies commenting on the level at which their state has implemented the international human rights treaty in question. 5 Op. cit footnote 2. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, A/CONF.157/23, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993. 7 It should be noted that in 2006, the UN Commission of Human Rights was replaced by the UN Human Rights Council, which was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006. 8 Resolution 63/169 on the role of the Ombudsman, mediator and other national human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 March 2009, resolution 63/172 on the role of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 March 2009, resolution 64/161 on the role of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 12 March 2010, resolution 65/207 on the role of the Ombudsman, mediator and other national human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 28 March 2011. See also Human Rights Resolution 2005/74 of the UN Commission on Human Rights on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted on 20 April 2005. 6 7