Section 1 Broad mandate of NIHR in the promotion and protection of human rights 1.  Paris Principles on the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights affirmed that “National institutions have the competence to promote and protect human rights” and “National institutions will have a wide mandate as is expressly provided in a constitutional and legislative provision ....”1 This meaning is referred to in the general observations of the Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA), which emphasized that the establishment law should entrust specific functions to national institutions to “promote” and “protect” human rights. 2. SCA2 recognizes that the concept of “promotion” includes the functions that national institutions are seeking to undertake in the dissemination of information, knowledge, training, education and advice on human rights to the general public or to specific target groups for the purpose of cultivating a community culture that is based on the transformation of human rights knowledge into practical skills on the ground. 3. The concept of “protection” pertains to its quasi-judicial authority to receive complaints of human rights, to monitor any violation of the right of individuals to enjoy their prescribed rights and public freedoms, and to conduct field visits to places where human rights violations are likely to occur. The mandate of the national institution should be interpreted broadly, freely and clearly to promote a progressive definition of human rights that guarantees all the rights enshrined in international, regional and national human rights instruments. 1 Paris Principles on the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights - Mandates and Responsibilities - paragraphs (1) and (2). 2 General observation of the Subcommittee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions: (1-2) The mandate of human rights, adopted on 6 March 2017. 8