HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2018 2.1.4. Institutional Development ▪ Approval of a Scheme of Recruitment (SOR) The Commission’s work had been seriously hampered by the absence of a SOR for over a decade. As a result no new recruitment was possible. The current Commission prioritized the matter with the direct intervention of the Chairperson and Commissioners. As a result, in May 2018 the HRCSL obtained final approval for the SOR for all cadre positions from Department of Management Services. The Commission awaited authorization of the absorption of existing staff under the scheme, and planned on commencing new recruitments in 2019 which will go a long way to improve the efficiency of the Commission. ▪ Further Improvement of the I&I Procedure Continuing the success achieved through the reorganization of the I&I division in the previous years, several novel procedures were introduced in 2018. Firstly, an appeals procedure was introduced for all disposed complaints other than complaints in which recommendations were issued. The referral system of the division was further strengthened by streamlining the ‘can/cannot’ process, which determines at the outset if a complaint falls within the purview of the Commission or not. Those which do not fall within the mandate are then referred to the appropriate redress mechanism such as the Office of Ombudsman, National Police Commission, National Child Protection Authority, the Official Languages Commission. (Please see Chapter 3.1 for more information on the new working methods of the I&I division) ▪ Work Commences on Digital Information Management System The Commission, with assistance of UNDP commissioned a new digital information management system for the Head Office and the Regional Offices in order to streamline case-management, which will increase the efficiency of the responses of the Commission. 30