Help us make the FRA website better for you!

Take part in a one-to-one session and help us improve the FRA website. It will take about 30 minutes of your time.

YES, I AM INTERESTED NO, I AM NOT INTERESTED

29
April
2025

NHRI Accreditation Status and Mandates – 2025 update

!-!-!-!-!- TO BE PROVIDED -!-!-!-!-!


3. NHRIs’ use of the Charter

Out of the 34 NHRIs that responded to this survey, 20 NHRIs used the Charter in 2024 in their work related to education, training and awareness raising.

Five NHRIs indicated that they used the Charter in litigation before courts. The Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Cyprus) is the only institution that indicated that it applies the Charter in the context of mediation.

Within the EU, three NHRIs reported not using the Charter in 2024: the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland, the Italian National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty and the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (France).

When it comes to accession countries, experiences differ. The Charter holds significance for the People’s Advocate of the Republic of Albania, primarily in the areas of awareness raising and when conducting human rights impact assessments or legal scrutiny. In North Macedonia, the Charter is used by the ombudsman for awareness raising and litigation before courts. In contrast, the Ombudsman of Serbia, in its reply, indicated that the Charter is not a foundational aspect of its operational framework.

Table 4 presents 14 NHRIs that indicated that they applied the Charter provisions when advising the government.

Table 4 – Institutions that used the Charter in their work in 2024 and the context in which it was used

NHRI (or nearest equivalent)

Education/training

Awareness raising

Processing complaints

Advising government

Human rights impact assessment or legal scrutiny

Litigation before court

Mediation

Other activities

Austrian Ombudsman Board

 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

FIRM (Belgium)

 

 

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Interfederal Equal Opportunities Centre Unia (Belgium)

 

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

Commission for Protection against Discrimination (Bulgaria)

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

.

Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Cyprus)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

Yes

 

Public Defender of Rights (Czechia)

Yes

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Danish Institute for Human Rights

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chancellor of Justice (Estonia)

 

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Finnish Human Rights Centre

Yes

 

 

 

Yes

 

 

 

German Institute for Human Rights

Yes

Yes

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

Greek National Commission for Human Rights

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commissioner for Fundamental Rights (Hungary)

Yes

Yes

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

 

 

 

 

 

Yes

 

 

Ombudsman’s Office of the Republic of Latvia

 

Yes

 

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

The Seimas Ombudsperson’s Office (Lithuania)

 

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

Consultative Human Rights Commission of Luxembourg

 

Yes

 

Yes

 

 

 

Research policy related communication

Parliamentary Ombudsman (Malta)

 

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

Netherlands Institute for Human Rights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes

Commissioner for Human Rights (Poland)

Yes

 

Yes

 

Yes

 

Yes

Yes

 

.

Portuguese Ombudsman

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People’s Advocate (Romania)

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

Romanian Institute for Human Rights

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slovak National Centre for Human Rights

 

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

Yes

 

 

Ombuds institution of Spain/Defensor del Pueblo

 

 

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Equality Ombudsman (Sweden)

 

 

 

 

 

Yes

 

 

Institute for Human Rights (Sweden)

 

Yes

 

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

People’s Advocate of the Republic of Albania

 

Yes

 

 

Yes

 

 

 

Ombudsman of the Republic of North Macedonia

 

 

 

 

 

Yes

 

 

Source: FRA, December 2024.