Sample Key Elements of an Organizational Structure

• Members or commissioners lead the organisation and are accountable to the government or Parliament for the overall performance of the organization, usually through annual reports and special reports.
• A senior official who runs operations, such as an executive director or secretary general who is accountable to the members.
• Departments broken down by functional lines, for example:
• Investigation / Complaints Handling/ Monitoring Department.
• Legal /Policy Department: responsible for policy advice generally, providing legal advice on corporate matters, as well as on substantive human rights issues such as reviewing laws and incorporating international standards.
• Promotion Department: responsible for human rights education; media relations, publications, communications.
• Administrative or corporate services department (human resource, finances, coordinating IT and other corporate services).
• Specialised structures for strategic focus and expertise. For example, many NHRIs have distinct organisational units specialising in gender and women's equality (see section 8.4).
• A "registrar" or similar position (a term commonly used in many NHRIs to describe the person responsible for physically receiving, cataloguing and tracking incoming cases and related inquiries). The function generally reports to either the senior office-holder or the senior public servant.