｜ August 1, 2020: President Tsai Ing-wen (second from the left) attending the unveiling ceremony of the National Human Rights Commission. Courtesy of: Academia Historica the government and opposition thoroughly debated the topic, and so the UN Secretary General’s refusal to “deposit” Taiwan’s ratification was long-expected. That is why, towards the end of President Chen Shui-bian’s term, the government took Huang Wenhsiung’s suggestion and prioritized the promotion of the Act to Implement the Two Covenants, or a “Taiwan model” approach. The creation of a “Taiwan model” was formulated after discussions between Huang Wen-hsiung and Wang Ping-yun, the legal adviser of Hsu Chih-hsiung, 148 then deputy convener of the Executive Yuan’s Human Rights Protection and Promotion Task Force. The idea came from the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998. Based on international legal theory, the UK is a constitutional monarchy, that is, the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and cannot make decisions alone. Whether or not treaties or covenants can take effect is not decided through signing and filing by the crown, but through domesticalization upon approval (enforcement) by the parliament. Chapter 5 Therefore, Wen-hsiung and Wang Ping-yun recommended for Taiwan to give the norms and mechanisms of human rights covenants the legal effect and authority of domestic law through domesticalization. In other words, although Taiwan is not a participant, it will still uphold the obligations of a participant. Following the passage of the Act to Implement the Two Covenants, civil rights and human rights organizations founded Covenants Watch. It was recommended to adopt the “Taiwan model” for the international review process of the enforcement of the Two Covenants based on UN guidelines, and with adjustment made to accommodate the special circumstance of Taiwan not being a member state of the UN. In April 2012, President Ma Ying-jeou published the first national report on the two covenants. In May, Covenants Watch issued the Parallel Report on the Implementation of the Two Covenants. In February 2013, international human rights experts were invited to Taiwan to review the National Report on the Two Covenants and the non-governmental parallel report. The experts put forward 81 concluding observations and recommendations and urged Taiwan for the first time to establish a national human rights commission in compliance with the Paris Principles as soon as possible. President Tsai Ing-wen Established the National Human Rights Commission In July 2014, the Human Rights Consultation Committee of the Office of the President proposed three options for establishing the National Human Rights Commission: to establish it under the Office of the President, the Executive Yuan, or as an independent agency. None of the options were adopted. After the 2016 presidential election, Taiwan saw another peaceful transition of power between political parties. In January 2017, at the review meeting of the ｜ Continual Improvement: Keeping Up with International Trends Second National Report on the Two Covenants, international human rights experts again urged the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission, and President Tsai Ing-wen promised to complete the planning for the commission as soon as possible. In July of the same year, Rosslyn Noonan, former New Zealand Human Rights Commissioner, and other international human rights experts visited Taiwan to help evaluate Taiwan’s plans to establish a national human rights commission. In November 2017, international experts presented a formal assessment report in the name of The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF), specifically stating that “in order to establish a national human rights institution in a timely manner, establishing it under the Control Yuan is the best option.” In 2019, the Legislative Yuan reviewed the Control Yuan’s version and the legislators’ version of the draft organic act for the National Human Rights Commission. On December 10 of the same year, the third reading of the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission was passed. Therefore, after 20 years of discussions and setbacks, and after three transitions of power, the highly anticipated National Human Rights Commission was officially established on August 1, 2020. The mission of the National Human Rights Commission is to promote the protection of human rights. Its primary functions and powers include issuing national reports on human rights covenants and “independent evaluations and opinions”. Other functions include the investigation of human rights violations, monitoring of human rights protection, national inquiries, promotion of the domesticalization of international human rights covenants, promotion of human rights education, and international exchanges regarding human rights. 149