1.1 What is a “national human rights institution?”

Terminology: A “national human rights institution” (NHRI) is an institution with a constitutional and/or legislative mandate to protect and promote human rights. NHRIs are independent, autonomous institutions that operate at the national level. They are part of the State, are created by law, and are funded by the State.

Some texts also use the term “national institutions” to refer to NHRIs. To avoid confusion with other types of institutions that operate independently at a national level, but that may not have a broad human rights mandate, the term NHRI is used here.

When they are in compliance with the Paris Principles, NHRIs are among the cornerstones of national human rights protection systems, and serve as relay mechanisms between international human rights norms and the national level.

NHRIs must be independent and autonomous. An institution that is located within and subject to the direction of a government department is not recognised internationally as a Paris principle-compliant NHRI. (See discussion of the accreditation process in Chapter 10.)

Institutions lacking a constitutional and/or legislative mandate to protect and promote human rights are not NHRIs. For example, Auditors General, or “classic” ombudsman offices with no human rights mandate, are certainly autonomous national institutions, but they are not NHRIs.

On the other hand, ombudsman offices may have responsibility for human rights either alone or in combination with other responsibilities and thus may be considered to be NHRIs. Only by carefully reading the enabling law and the mandate of the institution can it be determined if an institution is an NHRI.

It should be noted that although some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) use the word “commission” in their title, an NGO is not an NHRI.

For an overview of different models of NHRIs, see Chapter 2.

Basic Functions: NHRIs protect and promote human rights. They usually investigate and monitor human rights. While retaining their independence, NHRIs improve their effectiveness by coordinating their activities with the State, as well as with societal actors (e.g., civil society), and with regional and international organisations. NHRIs also promote human rights and provide advice to States. Depending on their enabling law, they may have a role in receiving individual complaints and in ensuring that remedies are available in the event that violations occur.

NHRIs also contribute to addressing gaps between human rights standards and implementation, ensuring the rule of law, and fighting impunity. Because most international mechanisms (for example, the concluding observations of treaty bodies) lack often enforcement powers at the national level, NHRIs help to make human rights a reality on the ground. Because they operate in, and have lawful authority at the domestic level, NHRIs can, for instance, follow up on recommendations of treaty bodies and hold authorities accountable with respect to their human rights obligations.

NHRIs can be the primary actors who ensure national ownership of a human rights agenda, and thus enhance the chances for success and sustainability of technical cooperation projects and for the development of a culture of human rights.

Key Features: NHRIs are:

• Central elements of strong national HR protection system;
• Ideal relay mechanisms at the country level to ensure application of international human rights norms;
• Crucial to address core protection issues;
• Central relay mechanisms to link human rights with development and democratic governance.

Depending on their mandate, NHRIs can also:

• Receive and investigate individual human rights complaints;
• Address gaps in national human rights protection systems; and
• Support peace-building strategies in post-conflict situations.

See “What is a national human rights institution?” by Morten Kjærum at the Danish Institute for Human Rights web site.

For a detailed discussion of the roles and responsibilities of NHRIs, see Chapter 3 of this Toolkit.