BackThe Parliamentary Ombudsman of Malta has published a proposal for the setting up of a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) in Malta, to monitor, promote and ensure the observance of human rights in the country.
For years the Office of the Ombudsman has been actively engaged in promoting both locally and abroad the need to set up in Malta a National Human Rights Institution, since NHRI’s are considered as central players in national human rights protection systems and play a crucial part to promote and monitor the effective implementation of international standards at the national level.
The Ombudsman’s proposal is a contribution to raise public awareness of the need to set up the necessary structures for a NHRI in order to further strengthen and safeguard the rights of citizens to fully exercise their fundamental rights. The proposal further envisages the designation of the Office of the Ombudsman as the Maltese NHRI.
“It is the government’s prerogative to choose the model best suited to Malta’s needs. In making its choice the government should endeavor not only to provide the individual with optimum protection for the enjoyment of his fundamental human rights, and this without unduly burdening the country with unnecessary additional expense, but also and more importantly, it should ensure that the model chosen would merit and receive the maximum level of accreditation – an A status – with the ICC,” Ombudsman Said Pullicino says in the closing remarks of the proposal.
Source: Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Malta
