International Human Rights and the International Human Rights System A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions • not be under investigation by another UN mechanism • not be lodged until all domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless those remedies would be ineffective or unreasonably prolonged.250 The requirement that the complaint must not be under investigation by any other UN mechanism is an important one. If a complaint has been lodged with a TMB or an SP, then the HRC complaint procedure will not accept it. It is important, therefore, to assess in advance of lodging a complaint, what international mechanism is likely to be the most effective in pursuing the complaint and promoting a remedy. The requirement of exhausting domestic remedies is also important and should be addressed in making the complaint. Under this requirement, a complainant cannot seek to engage the HRC complaints procedure unless and until she or he has tried and failed to obtain a remedy within the domestic legal system. In fact, all effective domestic remedies must have been “exhausted”, without success, before lodging a complaint with the HRC system. It is not necessary, however, to pursue every possible domestic remedy to its conclusion, no matter how ineffective it may be or how slow. A domestic remedy that is ineffective or unreasonably prolonged will be considered to have been exhausted and so will not prevent an international complaint being lodged. In most cases, an NHRI is usually considered not to be an effective domestic remedy for human rights violations. Very few NHRIs have power to make binding, enforceable determinations of a judicial nature. An effective remedy is one that is binding and enforceable and permits a victim to obtain a legal judgement and reparations. Few NHRIs can provide this. So it is not necessary for a victim to pursue a complaint through an NHRI before engaging the HRC’s system. Spring at the United Nations in Geneva. UN Photo by Jean-Marc Ferré. 250 HRC Resolution 5/1; para. 87. Chapter 13: International complaint procedures | 87