Paris Principles

The Paris Principles ("Principles Relating to the Status of National Human Rights Institutions") set out the minimum standards required by national human rights institutions to be considered credible and to operate effectively.

A fundamental role of the APF is to support our members, along with new national human rights institutions in the region, to comply with the Paris Principles.

The guidelines were developed at a United Nations meeting held in Paris in 1991, which brought together representatives of national human rights institutions from all parts of the globe to define the core attributes that all new or existing institutions should possess.

Criteria

The Paris Principles, as they became commonly known, identify six criteria that national human rights institutions should meet in order to be effective, including:

• a clearly defined and broad-based mandate based on universal human rights standards
• autonomy from government
• independence guaranteed by legislation or the constitution
• pluralism, including membership that broadly reflects their society
• adequate resources
• adequate powers of investigation.

Accreditation

The Paris Principles provide an agreed basis for assessing the independence and effectiveness of national human rights institutions.

In particular, they are used by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) to determine the international accreditation status of national human rights institutions.

National human rights institutions which are considered to fully comply with the Paris Principles are accredited as "A status", while those that partially comply are accredited as "B status".

"A status" national human rights institutions are able to participate in the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.

To ensure consistency and to minimise duplication, the APF adopts the accreditation decisions of GANHRI to determine whether our members are admitted with "full" or "associate" membership.

Interpretation

Over the past few years, GANHRI's Sub-Committee on Accreditation has developed a series of General Observations on the Paris Principles that are intended to:

• Provide guidance to national human rights institutions as they develop their own processes and mechanisms
• Assist governments so their national human rights institutions can comply with the standards
• Guide the Sub-Committee in its accreditation process and when it undertakes special reviews.

There are currently 25 General Observations that address a broad range of issues including competence and responsibilities; independence and pluralism; and methods of operation.