deliberations without having a counted vote”. Article (5) of the same Law followed stipulates that “a) Members of the Council of Commissioners shall be appointed by a Royal Decree for a period of four years, renewable for similar periods. Appointments shall take place after consultation with the relevant civil society organizations and various other groups. The Royal Decree shall specify the full-time and part-time members. The members shall exercise their duties in their personal capacity”. 29. In view of this, and since the establishment of the NIHR, the total number of the members of the Council of Commissioners in the various sessions has reached (50) members, being former representatives working in the private and public sectors, representatives of the legislature, representatives of national companies, human rights defenders, representatives of civil society institutions, diplomats, educators, media professionals, academics, consultants, and physicians. Women membership accounted for 45% of the total members. 30. Pursuant to the Law establishing the NIHR, the Council of Commissioners meets once every three months. The number of ordinary meetings held during the past decade amounted to (51) ordinary meetings and (14) extraordinary meetings. The meetings of the Bureau of the Council of Commissioners, which consist of the Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson in addition to the heads of the standing committees of the NIHR, are held once every two months, totaling (32) meetings during the same period. The members of the Council of Commissioners are divided into (3) committees in the conduct of their work, namely: Complaints, Monitoring and Follow-up Committee, the General Rights and Freedoms Committee, and the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty Committee, which convenes on a monthly basis at least or whenever the need arises. The number of the meetings of the NIHR’s standing committees has reached more than (250) meetings during the past ten years. 31. Whereas Article (15) of the same Law on the Establishment of the NIHR stipulates that “the NIHR’s administrative body shall be composed of a general secretariat that serves as its executive organ. The Secretariat shall have a sufficient number of consultants, experts, researchers and other staff of the Secretariat, who shall be appointed by a resolution of the Chairperson based upon the recommendation of the Secretary General”. Article (16) follows to stipulate that “The Secretary General shall be appointed by a resolution of the Chairperson based on the approval of the majority of the Members for a period of four years, which may be renewed for similar periods. The candidate to the Secretary General position shall be of proven competence, integrity, and independence, shall have at least a bachelor›s degree or its equivalent, and must have relevant experience, in addition to fulfilling the conditions required for the Members under Article (4) of this Law”. 21