The Malawi Human Rights Commission (the Commission), is established under section 129 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, (the Constitution). The mandate of the Commission as provided by the Constitution is broad, encompassing promotion, protection and investigation of violations of human rights. The Commission is further regulated by the Human Rights Commission Act (Cap 3:08 of the Laws of Malawi) in terms of its competence and powers, duties and functions, responsibilities and methods of operation. Section 12 of the Human Rights Commission Act stipulates that; “The Commission shall be competent in every respect to promote and protect human rights in Malawi in the broadest sense possible and investigate violations of human rights on its own motion or upon complaints received from any person, class of person or body.” 1.1 Duties and Functions The duties and functions of the Commission are stipulated in section 13 of the Human Rights Commission Act and these include: a. to act as a source of human rights information for the Government and the people of Malawi; b. to assist in educating the public on, and promoting awareness and respect for, human rights; c. to promote more particularly the human rights of vulnerable groups, such as children, illiterate persons, persons with disabilities and the elderly; d. to consider, deliberate upon, and make recommendations regarding any human rights issues, on its own volition or as may be referred to it by the Government; e. to study the status and effect of legislation, judicial decisions and administrative provisions for the protection and promotion of human rights and to prepare reports on such matters and submit the reports, with such recommendations or observations as the Commission considers appropriate, to the authorities concerned or to any other appropriate authorities; and, f. to perform any other function which the Government may assign to the Commission in connection with the duties of Malawi under those international agreements in the field of human rights to which Malawi is a party, without derogation from the fact that the Government shall remain primarily responsible for performing such functions.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 06:40:48 +0000
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