Second Annual Report of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) 2014 - Kingdom of Bahrain concerned, except with the approval of the Chairperson and in the presence of a representative of the Council of Commissioners. In fact, the provisions of the Law go further when it protects NIHR premises by prohibiting its inspection except by a judicial order and in the presence of a representative of the public prosecution, provided that the Chairperson is notified to this effect and a representative of the Chairperson is notified to attend the inspection. All in all, this promotes the independence of NIHR and fosters the independence of the mandate of its members and other activities. FOURTH: RECRUITMENT, RETENTION AND SECONDMENT OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTION STAFF 8. “Paris Principles” indicate that the national institution, for the smooth conduct of its activities without interference by the government and in order to achieve full independence, should provide an infrastructure which is suited for the smooth conduct of its activities, in particular adequate funding. The purpose of this funding should be to enable it to have its own staff and premises, in order to be independent of the Government and not be subject to financial control which might affect its independence55. 9. SCA considers this issue is one of the requirements set forth in “Paris Principles” to strengthen the capacity of national institutions to operate with complete independence without interference from the government. It stresses the need for legislation creating the national institution to grant it the power to determine its functional structures and the necessary requirements to carry out its mandate, develop appropriate standards, select its employees in accordance with the national law, and to provide it with adequate resources to be able to recruit and retain staff that have the necessary skills and expertise to carry out the mandate of the national institutions. This requires that such resources should allow for salary levels and terms and conditions of employment applicable to the staff of the National Institution to be equivalent to those of similarly independent State agencies and members. SCA concludes that this is a key factor to ensure the independence and effective functioning of national institutions; otherwise the principle of institutional independence will be undermined56. 10. As for the secondment of staff at national institutions, SCA considers that this would undermine the ability of the institutions to carry out the duties assigned to them independently without any external interference, particularly if the staff are seconded from the public service (public servants working in the government). Therefore, SCA emphasizes that in cases where it is necessary for national institutions to recruit staff through secondment, senior level posts in the organization structure should not be filled with secondments, and the number of secondments should not exceed 25% of the total number of staff in the national institutions57. 11. 11. For this purpose, Article 15 of Law No. 26 of 2014 addresses recruitment at NIHR. It indicates that NIHR administrative body is composed of a Secretary, which acts as NIHR executive organ. The Secretary has a sufficient number of consultants, experts, researchers and other staff of the Secretary. It vests in NIHR Chairperson the power to appoint them upon recommendation by the Secretary General. In confirmation of NIHR independence in this regard, Article 18 grants a sort of privacy to the management of the internal operation of NIHR without interference 55 “Paris Principles” relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Composition and guarantees of independence and pluralism, Clause 2, p. 6. 56 General Observation (2 - 4) Recruitment and retention of National Human Rights Institution staff, p. 124. 57 General Observation (2 - 5) Staffing of the National Human Rights Institution by secondment, p. 126. 37