Dimension: 5.1.1 Human rights
This dimension concerns parliament’s role in protecting and promoting human rights, and in helping to realize the entire spectrum of political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. fulfils this role by:
- ensuring the right of everyone to participate in the conduct of public affairs
- upholding the rule of law
- scrutinizing legislation and budgets
- overseeing executive action across sectors
- ensuring that the judiciary is independent, effective and accessible
- ensuring that national human rights institutions (NHRIs) can effectively fulfil their mandate; in many countries, the composition of the NHRI is approved by parliament and the NHRI has a duty to report to parliament
- ensuring that a free, independent and pluralistic media exists
- ensuring that civil society organizations (CSOs) can work effectively and without fear of reprisals.
The existence of a specialized parliamentary committee with a strong human rights mandate can send a strong political message, help to mainstream human rights across parliamentary work and facilitate interaction between parliament and other human rights stakeholders. Caucuses or informal groups of MPs active in the area of human rights are other common parliamentary mechanisms.
Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. contributes to the monitoring of the implementation of international human rights obligations. Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. should be actively engaged with United Nations human rights mechanisms, such as the UN Human Rights Council and its universal periodic review (UPR), and UN human rights treaty bodies, including by contributing to the drafting or discussion of national reports, by taking part in the official delegation that presents the report (in either an active or an observer capacity) and by helping to implement the subsequent recommendations.
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: International human rights obligations
Parliament has a mandate to debate and ratify international human rights treaties, and to ensure that the national legal framework is consistent with international human rights obligations.
No 2: Specialized committees
Parliament has one or more specialized committees responsible for human rights, with powers to assess legislation and government policy and action, and to ensure their compatibility with human rights obligations.
No 3: NHRI
The NHRI is established in law and has the necessary mandate and resources to carry out its work. Its relationship with parliament is in line with the Belgrade principles on the relationship between national human rights institutions and parliaments.
No 4: Engagement with UN human rights mechanisms
Parliament has a clear role in the different stages of the reporting procedures to the UN Human Rights Council under its universal periodic review and to the UN human rights treaty bodies. It contributes to the preparation and presentation of national reports and the implementation of subsequent recommendations.
No 5: Practice
In practice, human rights are mainstreamed throughout parliamentary work. Parliament interacts on a regular basis with NHRIs, CSOs and UN human rights mechanisms.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Provisions of the constitution and/or other aspects of the legal framework referencing international human rights obligations
- Terms of reference for one or more parliamentary committees with responsibility for human rights
- Memorandums of understanding or other forms of cooperation between the NHRI and parliament
- Parliamentary committee Parliamentary committee A body comprised of MPs who are appointed, on either a temporary or a permanent basis, to debate or closely examine matters closely related to specific policies, issues or circumstances, in line with the committee’s scope of work. The theme, structure and nature of parliamentary committees are established by a chamber’s rules of procedure. Depending on the these rules, the composition of a committee may reflect that of the whole parliament or include diverse party representation. In some parliaments, the term “commission” is used instead of, or interchangeably with, “committee”. reports indicating the evidence from, and routine engagement with, national human rights bodies and CSOs
- Details of the composition of national delegations to UN human rights mechanisms showing the participation of MPs in such delegations
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading
- Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Human Rights: Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 26, revised edition (2016).
- United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
- United Nations, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- United Nations, Belgrade principles on the relationship between national human rights institutions and parliaments (2012).
- United Nations, Contribution of parliaments to the work of the Human Rights Council and its universal periodic review (2018).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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