Part III The practice: What NHRIs can do to contribute to the process of change Section I Getting ready to engage Twenty Years: Twenty Stories: The Australian Human Rights Commission and the Sydney Community Foundation hosted an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act. Photo by the AHRC/Francesca Diaco Photography, reproduced under a CC BY 2.0 licence 7.3. THE POSSIBILITY OF MULTIPLE ‘INDEPENDENT MECHANISMS’ WITHIN FEDERAL STATES Article 33(2) does allow for the possibility that ‘one or more independent mechanisms’ may be designated by the State. This, coupled with article 4(5) which stipulates that its provisions “shall extend to all parts of federal States without any limitation or exception,” creates the possibility of several ‘independent mechanisms’ co-existing, especially within federated states. As the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities noted: Article 33, paragraph 2, also foresees the possibility that more than one independent mechanism might be appointed in the framework, as appropriate, with the effect that States would in fact establish a “mechanism of mechanisms” to promote, protect and monitor implementation. This possibility seems to address States parties with multiple levels of government, such as federal States and analogous entities.247 It goes onto suggest that: Based on the particular constitutional structure and other political and geographic considerations in a State, the independent mechanism of a federal State could arguably be either a unified federal body or a system with multiple bodies. Designation could come from either the federal Government and/or a devolved administration within the limits of its territorial jurisdiction and competence.248 In the United Kingdom, for example, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (England & Wales), the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (all established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom) and the Scottish Human Rights Commission (established by the Scottish Parliament) have all been designated by the Government of the United Kingdom, reflecting the devolved jurisdictions in Scotland and Northern Ireland. While such bodies should have the flexibility and sensitivity to respond to their local environment, they should nevertheless cooperate to harmonise an overall approach. At the end of the day, the federated State is answerable in the international arena for implementation at the sub-federal level. 247 ‘National Implementation and Monitoring: Matters relating to the Implementation of the Convention’; available at www.un.org/ disabilities/documents/COP/COP7/CRPD.CSP.2014.3.E.pdf. 248 Ibid. Chapter 7: The institutional architecture for change and the place of NHRIs | 97