“In March 2014 and March 2019, the SCA noted that the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners of the CHRAJ are appointed by the President of the country, in consultation with the Council of State through a process that is not clearly stipulated in the law. In practice, the selection and appointment of CHRAJ members follows a process that is open and involve background investigation.
The CHRAJ reports that a Constitutional Review Committee from 2010 recommended the amendment of the Constitution to provide for a participatory selection and appointment process. The recommendations, according to the CHRAJ, are being reviewed by the current Government for consideration.
In this regard, the CHRAJ is advocating for an amendment to its enabling law to include a merit-based selection process for Commission members based on transparent advertisement and broad selection process, as recommended by the Constitution Review Committee (CRC).
The SCA reiterates its previous recommendation encouraging the CHRAJ to continue to advocate for the inclusion in its enabling law of the formalization and application of a process that includes requirements to:
- publicize vacancies broadly;
- maximize the number of potential candidates from a wide range of societal groups;
- assess applicants on the basis of pre-determined, objective and publicly available criteria.
The SCA refers to Paris Principle B.1 and to its General Observation 1.8 on ‘Selection and appointment of the decision-making body of National Human Rights Institutions’.”