Finland’s national human rights institution retained the highest accreditation status

Finland’s national human rights institution consists of the Human Rights Centre and its Human Rights Delegation together with the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The institution's accreditation status is reviewed every five years.

The independence, pluralism and effectiveness of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) are reviewed on a regular basis through a procedure called accreditation. 

This was the second re-accreditation in which Finland’s national human rights institution retained the highest status A, first awarded to it in 2014. A status means that Finland’s national human rights institution is fully compliant with the criteria of the Paris Principles adopted by the UN General Assembly.

The review was carried out by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) operating in connection with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). The SCA is composed of four representatives of the NHRIs of different continents.

A status provides extensive rights to speak in UN bodies

The Human Rights Centre is responsible for European and international cooperation in the promotion and safeguarding of fundamental rights and human rights. As a rule, the Human Rights Centre represents Finland's national human rights institution in international cooperation.

Among other things, A status gives the Human Rights Centre the right to participate and speak in the UN Human Rights Council. 

The SCA also issues recommendations to the NHRI to support and strengthen the institution’s autonomy, independence and effectiveness. 

In the re-accreditation process, the SCA repeated its recommendation that it should be possible for the Human Rights Centre to submit its report to Parliament for discussion.  The SCA also recommended that sufficient resources should continue to be allocated to Finland's national human rights institution to enable it to carry out its tasks and that the institution’s financial autonomy should be enshrined in the enabling law of the NHRI.

Further information:

Jarna Petman, Director, tel.  +358 9 432 3780, firstname.lastname@ihmisoikeuskeskus.fi

Elina Hakala, Expert, tel. +358 9 432 3787, firstname.lastname@ihmisoikeuskeskus.fi

What is accreditation?

Based on the Paris Principles adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, the national human rights institutions (NHRIs) must have a broad mandate to promote and protect fundamental and human rights. The institutions must also be completely autonomous and independent of the government.

The third accreditation of Finland's national human rights institution was initiated in autumn 2024. The accreditation process is based on information provided by the NHRI and other sources, such as UN reports and publicly available information. During the accreditation process, the NHRI submits information to the Sub-Committee on Accreditation both in writing and orally.