Human Rights Advisory Board

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The Human Rights Advisory Board is an advisory body to the Austrian Ombudsman Board . The Human Rights Advisory Board and the commissions established by the Ombudsman Board after hearing the Human Rights Advisory Board are responsible for the preventive control of compliance with human rights in public and private institutions. Furthermore, they are responsible for controlling the exercise of direct administrative authority and coercive power by state organs. The Ombudsman Board and the commissions established by it are the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) within the meaning of the Optional Protocol OPCAT to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

organization

The Human Rights Advisory Board consists of a chairman, their deputy and 16 other members and substitute members. Renate Kicker has been chairwoman since July 1, 2012, and Andreas Hauer has been her deputy since 2014 . The chairperson of the Human Rights Advisory Board is appointed by the Ombudsman Board. He or she is not bound by any instructions and must have specific skills and specialist knowledge in the field of human rights.

The following institutions have the right to propose one member and one substitute member:

An office has been set up in the Ombudsman's Office to support the work of the Human Rights Advisory Board.

tasks

The Human Rights Advisory Board was set up as an advisory body at the Ombudsman Board since July 1, 2012 and advises the members on their tasks in the human rights area. His competence covers all areas of the Ombudsman’s auditing activity.

The Human Rights Advisory Board has an important advisory function when it comes to determining the focus of the audit. The Advisory Board supports the Ombudsman Board and its committees in deciding which priorities should be set for preventive controls on places of deprivation of liberty.

The Human Rights Advisory Board also makes proposals for setting auditing standards. These are intended to ensure a uniform approach by the commissions. Uniform test standards ultimately form the basis for the Human Rights Advisory Board in advising the Ombudsman Board in the event of maladministration. The advisory board also advises the commissions and the Ombudsman Board on preparing their recommendations and assesses whether these help to achieve human rights standards.

The members and substitute members are entitled to take part in the meetings of the Human Rights Advisory Council at the same time. The advisory board also has the right to be heard for the appointment of the committee heads and the committee members. The main audit areas determined by the Human Rights Advisory Board and the Ombudsman's Office determine the issues to which the commissions should pay particular attention in their controls.

The Commissions of the Ombudsman Board

The six regional committees of the Ombudsman Board are a central component of the control activities and part of the NPM. You carry out inspection visits nationwide for the Ombudsman Board. You have access to all private and public facilities in which a deprivation of liberty takes place or can take place. These include police and judicial facilities, but also health care facilities such as psychiatry and facilities for people with disabilities.

If necessary, the commissions submit proposals to the Ombudsman Board to identify grievances. If the Ombudsman Board does not comply with the proposals or recommendations of the commissions, the committees are entitled to add comments on their area of ​​activity to the reports of the Ombudsman Board.

The visits of the commissions are carried out routinely and nationwide in their area of ​​responsibility, but also due to special circumstances that have become known. Visits can also be made unannounced at any time. The commissions have to report to the Ombudsman Board about every visit. In these reports, in particular, the facts gathered and the measures and recommendations that the Commission considers necessary must be recorded.

The commissions consist of people who work part-time and are interdisciplinary (experts in the fields of medicine, law, sociology, psychology, social work).

Three areas of control

Control of places of restriction of freedom

People can be deprived of their freedom in various places, for example in prisons, barracks, psychiatric facilities, old people's and nursing homes, crisis centers, shared apartments for young people and facilities for people with disabilities. In total, around 4,000 public or private institutions in Germany are recorded, and around 500 mostly unannounced inspection visits by regional expert commissions take place every year.

Control of facilities and programs for people with disabilities

The Ombudsman Board and its commissions also visit and monitor facilities and programs for people with disabilities. The aim is to prevent every conceivable form of exploitation, violence and abuse. The Ombudsman's Office thus implements the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities nationally. The visits include, for example, disabled and psychosocial long-term facilities and day centers for the disabled.

Accompanying review of compulsory files

The Ombudsman Board and its committees also check whether the administration exercises direct authority and coercion. This includes the observation of police operations during large raids, large events, assemblies and demonstrations as well as deportations. The aim is to protect people and their rights. This applies to demonstration participants as well as to police officers. The examination competence also includes allegations of abuse against police authorities as well as deaths and suicide attempts in police custody.

Historical development

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Austria for the first time in 1990. In its summary report, it recommended that the Austrian authorities entrust an independent body with the regular inspection of the conditions of detention in the police jails (now: police detention centers ). After its second visit in 1994, the CPT repeated this recommendation. In its statement from June 1996, the Federal Government assured the establishment of an independent body to regularly inspect the conditions of detention in the police detention centers.

After the death of the Nigerian deportation prisoner Marcus Omofuma on May 1, 1999 in the course of a deportation on the flight to Bulgaria, efforts to create such an advisory board were intensified. The then Federal Minister of the Interior felt compelled to set up such an advisory board initially by way of ordinances. A few days after its constitution - on July 5, 1999 - the National Council passed the 1999 Security Police Act amendment, which contains the relevant provisions on the MRB. It came into force on September 1, 1999.

Human Rights Advisory Board in the Federal Ministry of the Interior

In 1999, the Human Rights Advisory Board (MRB acronym) was as instructions free consultation and monitoring committee of the Ministry of the Interior established. The legal basis was found in §§ 15a - 15c Security Police Act (SPG), as well as in the rules of procedure of the Human Rights Advisory Council (MRB-GO). The Human Rights Advisory Board was one of the out-of-court legal protection institutions in Austria. With effect from July 1, 2012, he ended his activity as the Ombudsman took over his duties.

organization

The Human Rights Advisory Board had eleven members and the same number of substitute members who were not bound by any instructions when carrying out their duties.

The President of the Constitutional Court had the right to propose the chairman and his deputy, who were to be selected from among the members of the Constitutional Court , the Administrative Court and those persons who were authorized to teach constitutional law at an Austrian university.

Chair:

The following persons also had the right to propose one member and one substitute member:

  • the Federal Chancellor,
  • the Federal Minister of Justice,
  • and five private, non-profit associations that are dedicated to protecting human rights: Caritas, Diakonie, Verein Menschenrechte Österreich, Volkshilfe and SOS Menschenrechte.

Three further members and substitute members are appointed by the Federal Minister of the Interior without a proposal.

An office was set up in the Federal Ministry of the Interior to support the activities of the Human Rights Advisory Council.

OPCAT implementing law

The Austrian OPCAT Implementation Act dissolved the human rights advisory board that existed in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and replaced it with the human rights advisory board set up at the Ombudsman Board and the commissions set up at the Ombudsman Board. The competence of the Human Rights Advisory Council, which was previously limited to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, was also extended to other institutions in which measures restricting freedom and other coercive measures can be taken.

See also

literature

  • Bernd Bürger: The Austrian Human Rights Advisory Board. A tool to prevent unethical use of police force under the light of restorative justice principles , Master Thesis, 2013

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Composition of the Human Rights Advisory Council
  2. ↑ Tasks of the Human Rights Advisory Council
  3. ^ The Commissions of the Ombudsman Board
  4. ↑ Federal Act for the Implementation of the Optional Protocol of December 18, 2002 to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, announced in Federal Law Gazette I No. 1/2012
  5. ↑ online