Experts Suggest Expanding Scope of Model Law on Status of Commissioner for Human Rights

On 24 December, under the chairmanship of Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova, an expert session of the working group of the CIS Human Rights Commission was held in Moscow to discuss proposals to amend the Model Law on the Status of the Commissioner for Human Rights adopted by the IPA CIS 20 years ago - in December 2004.

“Over the past time, not only the legislation of the Commonwealth countries, but also the very practice of human rights activities has changed significantly. New challenges and threats have appeared - to peace, stability and guarantees of human rights. In this situation, it is natural to question the need to update the legal framework. The CIS Human Rights Commission has set up a special working group to address this issue. Joint work and model lawmaking allows us to bring the legal positions of our countries closer together and provides additional guidelines for national human rights institutions in promoting their normative and legal initiatives,” - said Tatiana Moskalkova.

Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights, Executive Secretary of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Public Health Evgenia Vladimirova in her speech shared information with the members of the working group on the procedural issues of adopting of the IPA CIS Model Laws.

According to her, the agenda of the spring meeting of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights would include the issue on the progress of preparation of the new edition of the Model Law on the Status of the Commissioner for Human Rights. The MPs would be presented with an analysis of the legislation of the Commonwealth states in this area.

The working group meeting was attended by experts from the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, The Institute of CIS Countries (Institute of Diaspora and Integration), the Research and Training Center for Human Rights of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL), regional commissioners, researchers and experts from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The experts discussed proposals to update the CIS Model Law, including the right of the commissioner to transfer a complaint to another competent body for consideration, as well as to visit institutions when checking a complaint without prior notice.

The working group on the Model Law carried out work to study national legislation regulating the activities of commissioner in the CIS states and to collect proposals for updating the current Model Law. The experts decided to submit this issue for consideration by the CIS Human Rights Commission in April 2025.

The CIS states are currently updating their national legislation on state human rights institutions.