“Article 11 of the Law provides for immunity from criminal and civil liability to the Ombudsman and his deputy. The Law is however silent on immunity for staff.

The SCA notes information from the Ombudsman that staff are considered civil servants and therefore benefit from privileges of civil servants as outlined in Article 13 of the “Law of Turkmenistan on Civil Service” including the right to refuse to carry our assignments, the respect for personal dignity and fair treatment by managers, officials and citizen, the right to request and official investigation to dispute any information that discredits their honour and dignity; and the right to legal and social protection.

The SCA is of the view that the Law is not explicit on protection from criminal or civil liability for staff and does not provide sufficient protection to staff.

Members and staff of an NHRI should be protected from both criminal and civil liability for acts undertaken in good faith in their official capacity. Such protections serve to enhance the NHRI’s ability to engage in critical analysis and commentary on human rights issues, safeguard the independence, and promote public confidence in the NHRI.

The SCA encourages the Ombudsman to advocate for legal protections to explicitly provide functional immunity for staff of the Ombudsman.

The SCA refers to Paris Principle B.3 and to its General Observation 2.3 on ‘Protection from criminal and civil liability for official actions and decisions undertaken in good faith’.”