A/HRC/13/45 B: Observer status – Not fully in compliance with the Paris Principles or insufficient information provided to make a determination; C: Non-compliance with the Paris Principles. 1.8. The General Observations (attached as Annex 2), as interpretative tools of the Paris Principles, may be used to: (a) Instruct institutions when they are developing their own processes and mechanisms, to ensure Paris Principles compliance; (b) Persuade domestic governments to address or remedy issues relating to an institution’s compliance with the standards articulated in the General Observations; (c) Guide the Sub-Committee on Accreditation in its determination of new accreditation applications, re-accreditation applications or other review: (i) If an institution falls substantially short of the standards articulated in the General Observations, it will be open for the Sub-Committee to find that it was not Paris Principle compliant; (ii) If the Sub-Committee has noted concern about an institution’s compliance with any of the General Observations, it may consider what steps, if any, have been taken by an institution to address those concerns in future applications. If the SubCommittee is not provided with proof of efforts to address the General Observations previously made, or offered a reasonable explanation why no efforts had been made, it would be open to the Sub-Committee to interpret such lack of progress as noncompliance with the Paris Principles. 1.9. The Sub-Committee formulated a new General Observation (attached as Annex 3). 1.10. The Sub-Committee notes that when specific issues are raised in its report in relation to accreditation, re-accreditation and other review, NHRIs are required to address these issues in any subsequent application or other review. 1.11. The Sub-Committee encourages all accredited NHRIs to inform the ICC Bureau at the first available opportunity about circumstances that would negatively affect their ability to meet the standards and obligations of the Paris Principles. 1.12. When the Sub-Committee declares its intention to consider particular issues within a specified time-frame, the outcome of the review may lead to a recommendation that may affect the accreditation status. In the event additional issues arise during the course of the review, the Sub-Committee will so notify the NHRI. 1.13. Pursuant to Article 12 of the Statute, where the Sub-Committee on Accreditation comes to an accreditation recommendation, it shall forward that recommendation to the ICC Bureau whose final decision is subject to the following process: • The recommendation of the Sub-Committee shall first be forwarded to the applicant. • An applicant can challenge a recommendation by submitting a written challenge to the ICC Chairperson, through the ICC Secretariat, within twenty eight (28) days of receipt. • Thereafter the recommendation will be forwarded to the members of the ICC Bureau for 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 ICC Bureau. • Any member of the ICC Bureau who disagrees with the recommendation shall, within twenty (20) days of its receipt, notify the Chair of the Sub-Committee and the GE.10-10278 17