23/05/2014 Standing Committee
Parliaments and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have a key role to play for the protection and realisation of equality, human rights and non-discrimination, each of them within their remit, and their impact cannot be but reinforced if they work closely together, the Assembly underlined.
Following the proposals by the rapporteur Katherine Zappone (Ireland, UEL), the Assembly called on national parliaments and NHRI to actively engage in concrete co-operation on equality and non-discrimination issues in order to improve human rights protection for all.
Parliaments could seek advice from NHRIs on draft legislation and on ensuring compliance with international human rights treaties, invite NHRI representatives to give evidence and hold debates on NHRI reports. They should encourage the establishment of an NHRI in compliance with the Paris Principles when this is not yet the case.