Early Warning

Guidance to UNCTs: Early warning

A national institution may come under threat including of the following type22:

• Impediments placed on the institution concerning required support to ensure their very existence and effective functioning of their mandates including:
• Financial cuts
• Restriction of mandate
• Creation of additional/competing institutions which are more government oriented
• Intimidation and/or threats of death or violence against members of staff of the institution
• Removal of commissioners

In the NHRI context, "early warning" means that there is a threat to the viability of the NHRI based on good field intelligence. It is possible that outsiders may be aware of potential problems before the institution itself.

UNCT should be quick to bring potential problematic areas to the attention of the OHCHR NIRM Section and, through them, to the ICC.

Sometimes, 'early warning' will involve contemplated actions of the government, such as:

• Suggestions that the enabling legislation should be amended in a way that might impact on a national institution's compliance with the Paris Principles;
• Suggestions that the nominating process for Commissioners should be less transparent or should otherwise be carried out in ways that might lead to suspicions about the independence of the Commissioners eventually selected (it is possible that these concerns could come to light during the nomination process itself); and
• Suggestion that Commissioners or key officials should be removed from the Commission because of actions taken that might be viewed as contrary to government policy.

In consultation with the NIRM Section and through them the ICC Bureau, UNCT might interact directly with the government to attempt to address the challenges, inter alia, by pointing to the negative reaction that this might engender internationally and nationally. They could also coordinate or facilitate interventions by other actors, including representatives of national institutions, to reinforce the imperative that the institution has the powers, authorities, independence and other attributes needed to comply fully with the Paris Principles.

The ICC has developed guidelines on what action it should take in the event of such threats, all directed at removing the threat.

In some ways, the early warning mechanism is meant to prevent the circumstances in which the institution operates to down-grade to the extent that the institution is less than fully effective. The early warning mechanism, therefore, may be seen as a step to prevent 'changed circumstances' that might lead to a review of accreditation.

22 These examples come from the "Early Warning Mechanism" adopted by the ICC at its 15th session at Seoul, republic of Korea, in September 2004.