National Human Rights Institutions

Book excerpt: National Human Rights Institutions: Rules, Requirements, and Practice is an authoritative guide to National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) in their important role as promoters and protectors of human rights at the national level. This book serves as both the first ever 'casebook' on the findings of the SCA, as well as a comprehensive reference for the requirements for compliance of NHRIs with the Paris Principles, and is a vital source of information on the actual practice of NHRIs. Since its earliest assessments of NHRIs in 1998, the Global Alliance of NHRIs' (GANHRI) Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) has developed a substantive body of work that has examined the operation and practice of over 128 institutions in countries and territories from every part of the globe. Analysed and catalogued in their entirety into an accessible format for the first time, and covering all aspects of NHRIs' structure and functioning, as well as providing a thorough overview of how the SCA works in practice, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and practitioners who wish to understand and learn how NHRIs operate at the national level, as well as what problems they face and ultimately, how they can be strengthened. Benefitting from the unique insight of David Langtry, a member of the SCA for 11 years, this book is an essential source for all those interested in the role of NHRIs, and more broadly, of all state-established institutions intended to function independently.