Conducting a National Inquiry into Systemic Patterns of Human Rights Violation In selecting and appointing staff to the inquiry, the NHRI must consider the impact of appointments on other areas of its work. No national inquiry will be the only thing an NHRI does. While the inquiry is underway, the NHRI will still have to receive and handle complaints, provide advice to the parliament and the Government, undertake awareness raising and educational activities, respond to media and public enquiries, and so on. It will need staff to perform these duties. A national inquiry is a large and very significant project. It will tend to attract the best staff in the institution as they will want to be involved in the institution’s major project. There is also a danger that it could starve other areas of the NHRI of necessary resources as staff are diverted from their usual activities into the work of the inquiry. Decisions about staff allocation will need to weigh up the various responsibilities and priorities of the NHRI and seek the appropriate balance of staffing, in quantity and quality. Again, carefully timetabling the engagement of staff can prevent other areas being deprived of expertise for lengthy periods. Rotating staff through some inquiry positions, where this is possible, could also assist. Engaging persons outside the NHRI, where appropriate, can lessen the demands on the permanent staff, although it should be noted that permanent staff may be demoralised if outsiders alone have the opportunity of participating in the challenging work of the national inquiry. One way to address this is to assign some permanent staff to the national inquiry and engage external persons on a short-term basis to fill their positions during the period of their assignment. KEY POINTS: CHAPTER 7 • Every national inquiry needs the right team, with the right mix of skills and experience to make the inquiry successful. The team will include Inquiry Commissioners and staff. • The Inquiry Commissioners are the internal drivers and the external face of the inquiry. They collectively lead the whole inquiry team, with the chairperson of the inquiry individually leading the inquiry members. • In some cases it may be necessary to appoint a highly qualified and widely respected “special adviser”. • The inquiry staff need expertise in administration and management, research and writing, community liaison and relations, and media liaison and communications. 36