3.1.3 Public Inquiries

Many NHRIs undertake public inquiries into human rights situations or issues on their own initiative. Public inquiries permit examination of systemic or general human rights issues in depth and have been held into a wide range of human rights issues. Examples of issues examined are:

• Starvation deaths and the right to health (India);
• Mental illness and homeless children (Australia);
• Torture (Mongolia); and
• Accessible public transport (New Zealand).

If a UNCT is called on to support or advise on the holding of such a public inquiry, the following issues should be considered:

• Whether the NHRI’s enabling legislation authorises the activity, either implicitly or explicitly;
• That there is a clear and transparent objective and outcome: the NHRI will typically state that there will be recommendations, or that State activities will be monitored in a defined area, etc.
• Public inquiries can be costly and complex. They require careful planning and adequate resources. Anticipated gains must therefore be commensurate with expected efforts and costs; and
• Experience shows that public inquiries should be the result of strategic decision-making and require carefully planned media and communication strategies.

NHRIs should be made aware of existing recent resources: for example, in 2007, the Asia Pacific Forum hosted NHRIs to pool experiences and expertise on running national public inquiries as part of a pilot training programme.3 Public inquires were identified as effective tools for addressing systemic discrimination and violations of human rights, and the meeting provided practical ‘how to’ strategies on:

• setting up a public inquiry, including choosing the inquiry subject, establishing terms of reference, developing an appropriate methodology, identifying stakeholders and undertaking sufficient planning and preparation;
• resourcing a national inquiry, including the involvement of commissioners; and staff, financial resources and community resources;
• educating and informing the community, including strategies for working with the media; and
• planning follow-up activities and advocating for the implementation of the inquiry recommendations.

Source: Asia Pacific Forum: “Going Public: New Training Resource On National Inquiries”.

3 A DVD Going Public: Strategies for an Effective National Inquiry was prepared in 2007. Over 2007-8, The APF worked with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) to present a series of sub-regional training workshops for APF member institutions on running effective national inquiries in Indonesia and India. 
See www.asiapacificforum.net