A/HRC/42/66 E. Sharing of information, documentation and evidence 22. It is important to recall that the Mechanism is not a court or tribunal. It has no power to issue arrest warrants, conduct trials or impose punishments on its own; rather, it has the mandate to share relevant information, documentation and evidence with competent investigative, prosecutorial and judicial authorities in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over the crimes. 23. When sharing information, documentation and evidence with such authorities, the Mechanism will ensure it is done in accordance with its terms of reference, including United Nations rules, regulations and policies, relevant international law, including international human rights law, and rules and standards and good practices of other comparable international accountability mechanisms. In particular, it will ensure that it complies with the United Nations policy against international accountability mechanisms sharing evidence for use in criminal proceedings in which capital punishment could be imposed or carried out. 24. Furthermore, before sharing specific information, documentation or evidence with such authorities, the Mechanism must be satisfied that the disclosure is subject to the necessary and appropriate protective conditions. Assurances must be obtained from the entity requesting the information that it will respect the scope of the consent expressed by sources of information, including victims, witnesses, Governments and non-governmental providers of information. The Mechanism will only provide information once it is satisfied that the entity receiving the information will take approporate measures, consistent with the rights of due process and fair trial, to ensure the protection of confidential information and the security of all relevant persons. 25. Moreover, the Mechanism must be confident that the authorities requesting the information are willing and capable of conducting fair and independent criminal proceedings in accordance with international law standards. Any request for material from the Mechanism will therefore be carefully studied before a decision is made on whether to provide such material, and if so, that the sharing is conducted with the necessary modalities so that the aforementioned concerns are addressed. 26. At the initial stages of its operations, the Mechanism will largely focus on the collection, preservation and analysis of information, documentation and evidence in order to extract the relevant evidence to prepare case files. Nonetheless, in anticipation of requests for the sharing of information, documentation and evidence arising in the future, the Mechanism will, at the initial stages, ensure the development of policies, methodologies, protocols and procedures for the future sharing of information, documentation and evidence. F. Sharing information, documentation and evidence for other purposes 27. The terms of reference of the Mechanism provide that any other use of the information, documentation and evidence collected, preserved and stored by the Independent Investigative Mechanism pursuant to its mandate to facilitate fair and independent criminal proceedings in the future may be determined by the Mechanism on a discretionary case-by-case basis (A/73/716, annex, para. 19). 28. In addition to the aforementioned policies, metholodgies, protocols and procedures for the sharing of information, documentation and evidence, the Mechanism will also establish policies and procedures for the exercise of its discretion regarding the sharing of information, documentation and evidence for such other uses. In this regard, the Mechanism will, in accordance with its mandate, place utmost importance on evaluating whether such disclosure could materially contribute to the interests of justice and the deterrence of further crimes. The Mechanism will also need to carefully consider the request to ensure that the disclosure will not endanger victims, witnesses or information providers, nor risk compromising assurances made by the Mechanism to treat information confidentially. 5