PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE GANHRI STATUTE

(internal explanatory note)

Introduction

This paper proposes amendments to the GANHRI Statute for consideration by members at the Bureau and General Meeting to be held on 6 and 7 March 2017.

The proposed amendments reflect

-the amendments considered - and deferred - at the 2016 GANHRI Annual Meeting, implementing the conclusions of the ICC Accreditation Roundtable of 2015;

-further amendments/proposals which are being recommended based on events/issues that arose in the two last SCA sessions and in the last Bureau Meeting;

- amendments suggested for GANHRI to be recognized as institution that pursue public interest goals and thus are exempted from the payment of Swiss direct federal, cantonal and municipal taxes on profits.

-There are also few editorial amendments, article titles, etc. which aim to improve the overall text.

The proposed amendments are shown in the right column in the text, those outlined in yelloware the new ones, which will be proposed for the first time at this meeting.

Proposed Amendments

There are few substantive amendments (in particular with reference to the accreditation of members) plus few other amendments of minor relevance, in particular:

  1. Incorporation of a preamble to the Statute, which briefly defines the GANHRI and its main role and where the different statutes amendments are recalled.
  1. Proposed amendments to art. 1.
  1. include the reference to the Chairperson
  2. include the definition of the General Observations and Rule of Procedures of the SCA
  3. include the definition of the Head office
  4. include the definition of the GANHRI staff
  1. Proposed amendments to the section on accreditation.
  1. Art. 12.1 sets out the procedure for deliberation on a 'successful' challenge (ie, a challenge being heard by the Bureau) is set out. The procedure reflects what was proposed to the Bureau and what was agreed to by it at its last meeting, when considering the challenges of the Greek and Venezuelan NHRIs.
  2. Art. 12.7 has been added, reflecting the decision and experience of the Bureau at its last meeting. It provides that if an NHRI having a challenge heard by the Bureau is a Bureau member, the NHRI is excluded from the Bureau meeting. The challenging Bureau member is excluded from the whole Bureau meeting so as to prevent the challenging Bureau member from benefitting from its presence by lobbying the other Bureau members in person, which would put it at an unfair advantage as compared to a non-Bureau member.
  1. Proposed name change of the GANHRI General Meeting (Section 8)

Proposal to replace General Meeting with General Assembly to define the supreme authority of the GANHRI in the way this is called in other membership organisations. Furthermore, the name change will guarantee a consistent translation into the different GANHRI languages and would help avoid any confusion in using terms that may appear diminishing the role of the main body of the GANHRI.

  1. Proposed amendments with reference to the powers of the GANHRI Bureau (art. 46):
  1. include a reference to the GANHRI Finance Committee
  2. add paragraph 3 to article 46, which refers to the delegation of powers to the GANHRI Chairperson, to deal in matters having financial implications, in collaboration with the Finance Committee and pursuant to internal financial regulations to be adopted by the Bureau.
  1. Proposed amendments necessary to be granted tax exemption:
  1. add paragraph 2 to article 50 on the consultative role of the GANHRI paid staff in the Bureau meetings
  2. add a remuneration clause (paragraph 10, article 50), which specifies the voluntary basis for members’ engagement in the Bureau
  3. amend article 56 on the liquidation, making express reference to the transfer of the GANHRI assets to non-profit organizations pursuing public interest goals and being exempted by the payment of taxes.
  1. Proposed amendments to the SCA Rules of Procedure:
  1. A provision has been added to 3.1 to encourage the appointment of an alternate SCA member and thus to ensure the participation of all Regional Networks in the decision-making of the SCA. For this reason, the appointment is to be made by the Regional Networks in accordance with their own rules. As the deliberations of the SCA on an NHRI may continue throughout the SCA meeting, the replacement by the alternate member is for the whole SCA meeting.
  2. 4.3 Provides for members to identify the individuals who will represent the member at the SCA session, which shall be posted on the website.
  3. 4.4 provides for a quorum to be 3 members rather than 4 where a member removes him/herself due to a conflict or is unable to attend a session and no alternate is available.
  4. 4.5 provides for the SCA Chair to cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie.
  5. 4.7 provides for a situation of a real or perceived conflict of interest by an SCA member. A decision as to whether there is a real or perceived conflict rests with the Regional Network that appointed the member.
  6. 6.4 provides that the SCA will determine whether an institution is an NHRI or is a new or continuing NHRI.

Recommendations

  1. That members accept the incorporation of a Preamble.
  1. That members agree with the additions in article 1.
  1. That members approve the amendments to art. 12 on accreditation, which are reflect the outcomes of the round table discussion on Strengthening the ICC Accreditation System, held in March 2015.
  1. That members approve amendments and additions in art. 46, related to the powers of Bureau members, codifying the existence of an actual body within the GANHRI- the Finance Committee- and the past practice of the Bureau to consider the GANHRI Chairperson empowered to deal directly with matters that have financial implications for the GANHRI in line with the Bureau’s general decisions.
  1. That members agree at replacing the term “General Meeting” with “General Assembly”.
  1. That members agree to the amendments proposed to be recognized as institution pursuing public interest goals, according to the Swiss law.
  1. That members approve the amendments to the SCA Rules of Procedure, which have been proposed by the SCA Chair reflecting the discussions during latest SCA sessions.

1

Doc. 05i

Proposed Statute Amendments - Explanatory Note

January 27, 2017