1.5.
1.6.
1.7.
1.8.
4
in the Kingdom of Bahrain with regard to the promotion and
protection of human rights, it was agreed that a new law must be
issued to ensure genuine safeguards and full independence of the
NIHR, together with granting it additional competencies and powers
in line with the "Paris Principles" on the status of national
institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights.
In accordance with the constitutional procedures followed in this
regard, His Majesty the King issued on 24 July 2014 Law No. (26) of
2014 for the Establishment of the National Institution for Human
Rights, approved by the Representatives and the Shura Councils, to
create a genuine legal guarantee and provide full independence to
the NIHR as well as granting it additional competencies and powers
in line with the Paris Principles relating to the status of national
institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. This
Law came into force after its publication in the Official Gazette in the
supplement to issue No. (3168) dated 7 August 2014.
On that basis, the NIHR aimed at gain a permanent and active
membership in the Global Alliance of National Institutions for the
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (GANHRI), through which
the NIHR can actively participate in the sessions of the Human
Rights Council, meetings of treaty bodies, special procedures, and
subcommittees, groups, and task forces, and to speak in its capacity
as an official institution of the Kingdom to promote and protect
human rights.
On 16 July 2015, the NIHR formally submitted an application for
accreditation to the Global Alliance's Sub-Committee on
Accreditation (SCA), which is concerned with receiving requests for
accreditation from national institutions. On 25 November 2015, the
NIHR application was officially accepted and the date to consider it
was set on 9 May 2016 during the formal session of the SubCommittee, which requested the NIHR to submit a report entitled
"Statement of Compliance with the Paris Principles on National
Human Rights Institutions", containing a number of points centered
on
its founding,
independence,
structure,
organizational
infrastructure, methodologies, competencies, general responsibilities,
and the relationship with human rights bodies and authorities.
The NIHR sent the Statement of Compliance with the Paris Principles
to the Committee four months prior to the date set for considering its
application according to the requirements for submitting the
accreditation application. The Committee, in its turn, issued a
summary report of the Compliance Statement in which it identified a
number of issues that need to be focused on and to be incorporated
in the applicable law in line with the accreditation requirements. The
Sub-Committee communicated over the telephone with the NIHR’s
Council of Commissioners on the day scheduled for consideration of
NIHR_Bahrain©CRC_Additional_Information_Nov2018