Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council

THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’S SPECIAL PROCEDURES

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council serves several functions, one of which is to promote and monitor human rights worldwide through the establishment of special procedures. Special procedures are independent human rights experts who work individually or in groups to report and advise on human rights issues. They are referred to by many titles, including Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives, Working Groups, and Independent Experts.

Special procedures have either thematic or country-specific mandates. As of October 2022, the Human Rights Council oversees 45 thematic special procedure mandates and 13 country-specific special procedure mandates. The combined work of the special procedures encompass civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights.

Special procedures mandate holders serve in their personal capacities, meaning they do not represent their countries of citizenship. Each mandate holder may serve for a maximum of six years. This independent status is intended to allow these experts to carry out their functions with impartiality.

In fulfilling their responsibilities, special procedure mandate holders enjoy the support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and, in the case of mandate holders in academia, may also benefit from institutional support from their universities.

The Human Rights Council assumed oversight of the special procedures created by its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, upon its establishment in 2006. The Human Rights Council has since created or extended the mandates of many country-specific and thematic special procedures.

Principal Functions

As described in greater detail at the links below, each special procedure’s responsibilities are defined in the Human Rights Council resolution(s) that create or extend its mandate. Generally, in the process of carrying out their mandates, special procedures may:

After the special procedures mandate holders assess a specific human rights situation, they may report their findings or thematic studies to the Human Rights Council or the UN General Assembly and release public statements to the media.

More than 170 States have been visited by at least one special procedure mandate holder. Over 100 countries have extended standing invitations to all thematic special procedures.

Annual Reports

Special procedure mandate holders report to the Human Rights Council annually. Most special procedures also report to the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council reviews country-specific mandates annually and thematic mandates every three years.

Nomination & Appointment

Appointment of special procedures mandate holders takes place before the Human Rights Council. Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1 details the criteria for their selection and appointment. General eligibility criteria include the nominee’s expertise, experience in the field of the mandate, independence, impartiality, personal integrity, and objectivity. Specific criteria necessary to ensure all mandate holders are “highly qualified individuals” include the nominee’s established competence, relevant expertise, and professional experience in the field of human rights. The Human Rights Council also considers gender balance, geographic representation, and representation of different legal systems when appointing mandate holders. Conflicts of interest, such as holding a position in government, will disqualify an individual from consideration.

The OHCHR maintains a public list of upcoming vacancies, along with information on candidates who have applied for those mandates.

Governments, regional groups operating within the UN human rights system, international organizations or their offices, such as the OHCHR, nongovernmental organizations, other human rights bodies, and individuals may nominate candidates to be special procedures mandate holders. Resolution 16/21 adds national human rights institutions that comply with the Paris Principles to the list of entities able to nominate candidates.

Next, the Human Rights Council appoints a Consultative Group to review all applications and propose a list of candidates to the President of the Council. In doing so, the Consultative Group takes into account the views of stakeholders, including the current or outgoing mandate holder, in deciding the particular requirements for each mandate.

Following the Consultative Group’s recommendations, the President of the Council appoints an appropriate candidate for each vacant mandate, with approval by the Council’s Member States.

Additional Information

Click on the links below to learn about each special procedure. For additional general information, visit the OHCHR’s website, which features the activities of the special procedures, a directory of mandate holders, a list of countries that have received and are scheduled to receive visits from special procedures mandate holders, and instructions for submitting information to mandate holders. Also see Fact Sheet No. 27 for a list of answers to frequently asked questions about UN special procedures.

THEMATIC SPECIAL PROCEDURES

The following 45 Thematic Special Procedures have been established:

Working Groups

Independent Experts

Special Rapporteurs

 

COUNTRY-SPECIFIC SPECIAL PROCEDURES

Learn more about the country-focused special procedures, listed below, on the Country-Specific Special Procedures page. Clicking on the links below will lead to the OHCHR page for each special procedure. The former mandates of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, and the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire have been discontinued.

The following 13 country-specific special procedures are active:

Independent Experts

  • Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Central African Republic
  • Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali
  • Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia

Special Rapporteurs

The Human Rights Council had previously authorized special procedures to focus on other countries – including Sudan – but did not extend those mandates to the current date. With regard to Myanmar, Syria, and other countries, the Council has created additional investigative bodies, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, Independent Investigative for Myanmar (IIMM) and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (IICI Syria). Other investigative mechanisms focus on Burundi, the Kasaï region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, South Sudan, Venezuela, and Yemen.