A/HRC/39/28
(c)
States should provide redress mechanisms for adequate, effective and
prompt remedies, including gender-sensitive, victim-centred and transformative
reparations, for violations of the right to participate in public affairs. States should
ensure the timely and effective enforcement of decisions taken by courts of law or any
other relevant independent and impartial bodies. Such decisions should be publicly
accessible;
(d)
Adequate and accessible information should be provided to rights
holders regarding available processes and procedures for access to justice and redress
mechanisms, including when the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous
peoples has not been sought or obtained;
(e)
Capacity-building and training programmes in international human
rights law for members of the judiciary and other legal professionals, in particular
regarding the right to participate in public affairs, should be promoted and facilitated
on a regular basis. Such programmes should integrate a gender perspective;
(f)
States should establish and support the functioning of national human
rights institutions in line with the principles relating to the status of national
institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles);
(g)
National human rights institutions should have the mandate and
resources to receive complaints and to monitor, report and act on violations of all
aspects of the right to participate in public affairs, particularly of individuals and
groups that are marginalized or discriminated against.
22.
States should guarantee and give effect to the right of access to information.
(a)
States should recognize, protect and implement the right of access to
information in their national constitutions and legal frameworks;
(b)
Laws and regulations on the right of access to information should
comply with international human rights law, in particular by incorporating, at
minimum, the following elements:
(i)
Maximum, regular and proactive disclosure of all information of public
interest held by public authorities, and a presumption in favour of access;
(ii)
Any limitations should comply with international human rights law;
(iii) Procedures to request information of public interest should be free of
charge or available at reasonable cost, allow for fair and rapid processing and
include mechanisms for independent review in cases of refusal;
(iv) Protection for individuals who disclose information that they reasonably
believe, at the time of disclosure, to be true and to constitute a threat or harm
to a specified public interest (whistle-blowers) against legal, administrative or
disciplinary sanctions;
(c)
States should facilitate access to information, particularly for individuals
and groups that are marginalized or discriminated against. This may include
establishing procedures for the provision of assistance, from formulation of requests
for information through to their delivery, for the purpose of promoting equal access to
information;
(d)
An independent and impartial oversight mechanism should be
established and able to monitor and report on the implementation of the right of
access to information. The reports of such mechanism should be public.
23.
States should promote the principles of openness and transparency in all
aspects of decision-making processes, and of accountability of public authorities for
the implementation of the right to participate in public affairs.
(a)
Openness, transparency and accountability should be ensured at all
stages of decision-making by public authorities, from initial planning to budgeting,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
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