A/HRC/13/45 3. Methods of operation 4. Additional principles concerning the status of commissions with quasijurisdictional competence 5. Additional issues 5.1. NHRIs during the situation of a coup d’état or a state of emergency: As a principle, the Sub-Committee expects that, in the situation of a coup d’état or a state of emergency, an NHRI will conduct itself with a heightened level of vigilance and independence in the exercise of their mandate. 5.2. Limitation of power of National Institutions due to national security: The SubCommittee 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. 5.3. Functioning of an NHRI in a volatile context: The Sub-Committee acknowledges that the context in which an NHRI operates may be so volatile that the NHRI cannot reasonably be expected to be in full conformity with all the provisions of the Paris Principles. When formulating its recommendation on the accreditation status in such cases, the Sub-Committee will give due consideration to factors such as: political instability; conflict or unrest; lack of state infrastructure, including excessive dependency on donor funding; and the NHRI’s execution of its mandate in practice. 6. Procedural issues 6.1. 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 emphasises the following requirements: (a) Deadlines for applications will be strictly enforced; (b) Where the deadline for a re-accreditation application is not met, the SubCommittee 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 ensue that correspondence and application materials have been received by the ICC Secretariat. GE.10-10278 39