A/HRC/7/70 page 12 Annex II General observations adopted by the ICC at its October 2006 session 1. Application processes: With the growing interest in establishing National Institutions, and the introduction of the five yearly re-accreditation process, the volume of applications to be considered by the Sub-Committee has increased dramatically. In the interest of ensuring an efficient and effective accreditation process, the Sub-Committee emphasizes the following requirements: (a) Deadlines for applications will be strictly enforced; (b) Where the deadline for a re-accreditation application is not met, the Sub-Committee will recommend that the accreditation status of the National Institution be suspended until the application is considered at the next meeting; (c) The Sub-Committee will make assessments on the basis of the documentation provided. Incomplete applications may affect the recommendation on the accreditation status of the National Institution; (d) Applicants should provide documentation in its official or published form (for example, published laws and published annual reports) and not secondary analytical documents; (e) Documents must be submitted in both hard copy and electronically; (f) All application related documentation should be sent to the ICC Secretariat at OHCHR at the following address: National Institutions Unit, OHCHR, CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland and by email to: nationalinstitutions@ohchr.org; and (g) It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that correspondence and application materials have been received by the ICC Secretariat. 2. Limitation of power of National Institutions due to national security: The Sub-Committee notes that the scope of the mandate of many National Institutions is restricted for national security reasons. While this tendency is not inherently contrary to the Paris Principles, it is noted that consideration must be given to ensuring that such restriction is not unreasonably or arbitrarily applied and is exercised under due process. 3. Ensuring pluralism: The Sub-Committee notes there are diverse models of ensuring the requirement of pluralism set out in the Paris Principles. However, the Sub-Committee emphasizes the importance of National Institutions to maintain consistent relationships with civil society and notes that this will be taken into consideration in the assessment of accreditation applications. The Sub-Committee observes that there are different ways in which pluralism may be achieved through the composition of the National Institution, for example: