Learning Objectives
Committees Guide Human Rights Practices

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• Understand how to use parliamentary committees to promote human rights friendly law-making;

• Reflect on initiatives taken in different countries to develop parliamentary committees vested with mandates to bring laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.

Introduction and Overview

Parliamentary committees can enhance levels of human rights protection in-country. This unit describes how committee systems in various countries have broadened their remit to ensure adherence to international human rights standards and treaty commitments. In showing how a range of parliaments have established committees to promote and protect human rights - several with exclusive human rights mandates. This unit lists the different types of committees and the impact they can have. As such, this unit is an easy reference for collecting various replicable examples of good practice.