A/HRC/37/63 I. Introduction 1. The present report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order is submitted to the Human Rights Council in compliance with its resolution 36/4, requesting the Independent Expert to prepare a final report on his studies conducted during the last six years of his mandate, and to share it with the Council at its thirty-seventh session. In the report, the Independent Expert surveys his six previous reports to the Council and his six reports to the General Assembly and makes recommendations on issues addressed by the mandate, such as the models of democracy, the right of selfdetermination, the social responsibility of business enterprises, bilateral investment treaties, free trade agreements, military expenditure, tax evasion, reform of the United Nations system and the obligations of intergovernmental organizations. 2. The Independent Expert recalls that the mandate was established pursuant to resolution 18/6 of 29 September 2011, which laid down the terms of reference of a truly allinclusive rapporteurship for the promotion of a democratic, equitable and peaceful international order, a universal goal that had already found expression in numerous General Assembly resolutions following the historic resolution 3201 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974 on the declaration on the establishment of a new international economic order, which reflects the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States annexed to General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970. 3. During the first six years of the mandate, the Independent Expert wrote 12 reports addressing cross-cutting human rights issues pertinent to the realization of a democratic and equitable international order, including various models of democracy, the right of selfdetermination, the social responsibility of business enterprises, bilateral investment treaties, free trade agreements, military expenditure, tax evasion, tax havens, tax competition, enhanced coordination with international financial institutions, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), national and international protection of human rights defenders, including whistle-blowers, and the reform of the United Nations system. 4. The 12 reports bear witness to the added value of the mandate as a holistic directive to cast human rights in a coherent framework, which invites cross-fertilization with other special procedure mandate holders. In the reports, the Independent Expert took due account of the findings and recommendations of other rapporteurs and working groups, including those on international solidarity, extreme poverty, the right to health, the right to food, the right to housing, foreign debt, illicit financial flows, unilateral coercive measures, indigenous peoples, business and human rights, mercenaries and arbitrary detention. The Independent Expert also endorsed new standard-setting initiatives such as the Declaration on the Right to Peace,1 the declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas,2 a binding legal instrument on transnational enterprises3 setting out minimum social and environmental standards, the criminalization of environmental destruction, a global bill of rights, an international court on human rights and the creation of a world parliamentary assembly.4 In the reports, the Independent Expert highlighted the democratic deficits in many fields and called for enhanced transparency and accountability by all governmental and non-State actors. He also made clear that the exercise of power, particularly economic power, should be subjected to some kind of democratic control, so that the protective functions of the State were not undermined. 5. The mandate is both timely and necessary, especially since it illustrates the interrelatedness and interdependence of human rights and the natural convergence of civil, 1 2 3 4 General Assembly resolution 71/189, annex. A/HRC/19/75, annex. See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Session3/Pages/Session3.aspx. See http://en.unpacampaign.org/394/uns-independent-expert-alfred-de-zayas-time-for-a-worldparliamentary-assembly. 3