No. (26) of 2014 establishing the National Institution for Human Rights3, after being approved by the legislative authority; the Law entered into force after its publication in the Official Gazette on 8 August 2014. legislative text that determine its establishment and the scope of its competence”,5 which has the same meaning as that referred to in the general observations of the SCA emphasizing the need for the establishing law to assign specific functions to the national human rights institutions to “promote” and “protect” human rights. 4. To ensure that the NIHR has greater autonomy in performing its work and to confirm its compliance with the relevant international resolutions, taking into account the observations of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), the Law establishing the NIHR was amended by Decree-Law No. (20) of 2016,4 and entered into force after its publication in the Official Gazette on 7 October 2016. 2. Whereas, the SCA6 recognizes that the concept of “promotion” includes the functions that national human rights institutions seek to perform in the field of information and knowledge dissemination, training, education and provision of advice on human rights issues to the general public or to specific target groups in order to instil a societal culture based on transforming knowledge of human rights into practical skills that are practiced on the ground, and that the concept of “protection” refers to its quasi-judicial authority to receive complaints pertaining to human rights and to monitor and observe anything that could undermine the right of individuals to enjoy their assigned rights and public freedoms, and to conduct field visits to places where human rights violations Section Two The broad mandate of the National Institution for Human Rights 1. The “Paris Principles” affirmed that “the national institution shall be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights,” and that “the national institution shall be given as broad a mandate as possible and clearly set forth in a constitutional or 3 Law No. (26) of 2014. In Arabic https://www.nihr.org.bh/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/documents/download/NIHR-Law_26_2014_OG_ar.pdf in English https://www.nihr.org.bh/EN/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/documents/Download/LawNo26-of2014_engl.pdf 4 Decree-Law No (20) of 2016, in Arabic https://www.nihr.org.bh/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/documents/download/Law-Decree_No_20_of_2016.pdf in English https://www.nihr.org.bh/EN/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/documents/Download/LawDecree20-2016_amendingLaw26-2014.pdf 5 Paris Principles relating to the status of national institutions for promoting and protecting human rights (competence and responsibilities) in Arabic https://www.nihr.org.bh/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/PDF/01.%20ParisPrinciples_Ar.pdf in English https://www.nihr.org.bh/EN/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/PDF/HR/01.%20ParisPrinciples_En.pdf 6 General Observation of the SCA of GANHRI (1-2) Human Rights Mandate. In Arabic https://www.nihr.org.bh/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/PDF/04.%20SCA%20GENERAL%20OBSERVATIONS%20ARABIC.pdf in English https://www.nihr.org.bh/EN/MediaHandler/GenericHandler/PDF/HR/04.%20SCA%20GENERAL%20OBSERVATIONS%20ENGLISH.pdf 9