A Year of Human Rights Covenants: Great Leap for Taiwan National Human Rights Commission, Taiwan 5 Our Actions Measured by the annual strategic targets of 2022, the achievements of our work over the past one and a half years were as follows: I. I n d e p e n d e n t E v a l u a t i o n of National Reports and Participation in International Review on the Implementation of Human Rights Covenants A national institution shall…contribute to the reports which States are required to submit to United Nations bodies and committees, and to regional institutions, pursuant to their treaty obligations and, where necessary, to express an opinion on the subject, with due respect for their independence. “Competence and Responsibilities,” Paris Principles In accordance with Article 2, paragraph 8, of the Organic Act, the NHRC may provide independent opinions on national reports submitted by the government. In order to give the United Nations core human rights conventions domestic legal effect, Taiwan had passed the Act to Implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Two Covenants Implementation Act), Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Enforcement Act), Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC Implementation Act), and Act to Implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Implementation Act) from 2009 onwards. With Taiwan’s unique “localized review model,” the government takes the initiative to invite international human rights experts to examine our national reports in Taiwan, and provide an opportunity for members of the International Review Committee (IRC) to conduct in-depth dialogues with governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Each local review session lasts one week, including pre-sessional meetings and formal meetings, the agenda having been determined through the discussion of government agencies and the IRC members. Compared to the UN treaty bodies’ review sessions held in New York City or Geneva, in which several member states are reviewed within a single session, Taiwan’s local review model has the advantage in terms of time spent and thoroughness of discussions. Since the NHRC’s establishment in 2020, we have offered our independent opinions concerning the third National Report on the National Human Rights Commission 2022 Annual Report 29