The National Human Rights Commission: Constitution

In one line

The Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 defines human rights as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India, and constitutes a Commission of a Chairperson and six Members appointed by the President on the recommendation of a six-member Committee.

Section 2(d): the definition

"Human rights" means the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.

Three limbs, and each does work.

Life, liberty, equality and dignity, which is narrower than the whole of Part III and wider than any single article.

"Guaranteed by the Constitution OR embodied in the International Covenants", which is disjunctive, so a right in the Covenants is within the Commission's mandate even if the Constitution does not contain it in terms. That is the statutory bridge between the international order and an Indian institution.

"And enforceable by courts in India", which qualifies both limbs and is the restriction. A Covenant right that no Indian court would enforce falls outside, so the bridge is real and it is not unlimited.

Section 2(f) defines the International Covenants as the Civil and Political Covenant and the Economic, Social and Cultural Covenant, both adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and such other Covenant or Convention adopted by the General Assembly as the Central Government may, by notification, specify.

So the mandate can be widened by executive notification, which is a rare mechanism and worth naming.

Section 2(a) defines the armed forces as the naval, military and air forces and includes any other armed forces of the Union, which matters entirely because of section 19. [The National Human Rights Commission: Role and Effectiveness].

Section 3: the Commission

The Central Government shall constitute a body to be known as the National Human Rights Commission.

Composition as amended in 2019, and the amendments are examinable.

(a) a Chairperson who has been a Chief Justice of India OR A JUDGE of the Supreme Court. Before the Act of 2019 the Chairperson had to have been Chief Justice of India; the amendment widened the pool to any former Supreme Court judge.

(b) one Member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court.

(c) one Member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court.

(d) THREE Members, of whom at least one shall be a woman, appointed from persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights. Before 2019 this was two Members with no gender requirement.