A/HRC/13/45 III. Improvement of the International Coordinating Committee Accreditation Process 6. At its seventeenth session held on 12 April 2006, the International Coordinating Committee established a working group to examine the accreditation process of NHRIs and to develop a discussion paper for the Committee on the matter. The working group, comprising the then members of the Subcommittee on Accreditation, developed a discussion paper examining three areas: (a) the composition of the Subcommittee on Accreditation and its role and responsibilities; (b) the accreditation process; and (c) the substance of criteria or minimum standards set for accreditation. The paper was presented at the eighteenth and nineteenth sessions of the International Coordinating Committee. In addition, members were asked to provide further comments in writing with a view to developing a final paper, which was presented and adopted by the Committee at its twentieth session in April 2008. 7. The paper, as adopted by the International Coordinating Committee, includes a number of measures to improve the accreditation procedure, including: (a) An appeal process to ensure greater transparency and due process for NHRIs that are deemed not to comply with the Paris Principles; (b) A more rigorous review of each application for accreditation, including of the full documentation and statement of compliance submitted in advance of the session by NHRIs, with a detailed summary prepared by the secretariat; (c) More focused recommendations provided to each national institution (whether A or B status) to ensure full compliance with the Paris Principles, even before the prescribed five-year time frame for review of accreditations; (d) Wider distribution and greater knowledge of the Subcommittee on Accreditation recommendations by NHRIs and other stakeholders, so that they can play a proactive role in the context of follow-up action by the United Nations or NHRI regional coordinating bodies in the country concerned. The Subcommittee on Accreditation’s reports are also posted on the Internet (www.nhri.net). 8. In 2008, the International Coordinating Committee developed a new Statute for its incorporation as an association under Swiss law. The statute, which is based on the Committee’s existing rules of procedure, was adopted during the ninth International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions held in Nairobi from 21 to 24 October 2008, and further amended at the General Meeting of the International Coordinating Committee held in Geneva from 23 to 27 March 2009. The accreditation procedure, as defined in the statute, stipulates in article 12 that, where the Subcommittee on Accreditation comes to an accreditation decision, that decision shall be considered an accreditation status recommendation, with the final decision being taken by the Committee Bureau after the following process has been completed: (a) applicant; The recommendation of the Subcommittee shall first be forwarded to the (b) An applicant can challenge a recommendation by submitting a written challenge to the Committee Chairperson, through the Committee secretariat, within 28 days of receipt; (c) Thereafter, the recommendation will be forwarded to the members of the Committee Bureau for a decision. If a challenge has been received from the applicant, the challenge, together with all relevant material received in connection with both the application and the challenge, will also be forwarded to the members of the Bureau; 4 GE.10-10278