The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 7–9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the

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in its Resolution 48/134 of 1993. In addition to exchanging views on existing arrangements, the workshop participants drew up a comprehensive series of recommendations on the role, composition, status and also functions of

national human rights institutions A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to protect and promote human rights in a country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) aids these ...

(NHRIs). These built on standards previously adopted by the 1978 Geneva Seminar on National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’, which produced the ‘Guidelines on the Structure and Functioning of National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’. The 1993 Paris Principles regulate to the status and functioning of national institutions for the protection and promotion of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

known as

National Human Rights Institutions A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to protect and promote human rights in a country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) aids these ...

Paris Principles Requirements for NHRIs

The Paris Principles list a number of roles and responsibilities for national human rights institutions: * The institution shall monitor any situation of violation of human rights which it decides to take up. * The institution shall be able to advise the government, the parliament and any other competent body on specific violations, on issues related to legislation and general compliance and implementation with

international human rights instruments International human rights instruments are the treaties and other international texts that serve as legal sources for international human rights law and the protection of human rights in general. There are many varying types, but most can be cla ...

. * The institution shall independently engage with regional and

international organization An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own le ...

s. * The institution shall have a mandate to educate and inform in the field of human rights. * Some institutions are given a quasi-judicial competence. Compliance with the Paris Principles is the central requirement of the accreditation process that regulates NHRI access to the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

and other bodies. This is a

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

system operated by a subcommittee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) called the Sub-Committee on Accreditation. The Sub-Committee reviews NHRIs across a range of criteria, with independence from the state being the most important aspect of its reviews. Independence may be demonstrated through compliance with the Paris Principles, as interpreted by the Sub-Committee in its General Observations. Reviews by the Sub-Committee for Paris Principles' compliance examine NHRIs' enabling law, selection and appointment process for leadership, financial and administrative autonomy, and their human rights mandate, in addition to their practice as human rights promoters and protectors.

Notes

External links

* {{International human rights legal instruments Human rights United Nations resolutions 1991 in the United Nations

Paris Principles Requirements for NHRIs

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links