Human Rights Information

Overview of Special Procedures

The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. They are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be reconducted for another three years. As of October 2022, there are 45 thematic and 14 country mandates.

With the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), special procedures:

- Undertake country visits

- Act on individual cases of reported violations and concerns of a broader nature by sending communications to States and others

- Contribute to the development of international human rights standards, and

- Engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation.

Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts

with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific

perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations

human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and

social.

Current and former mandate holders (existing mandates)

A table listing the current and former mandate holders of existing mandates, including forty-five (45) thematic mandates and fourteen (14) country mandates, can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures-human-rights-council/current-and-former-mandate-holders-existing-mandates.

NB. Please note that information on each mandate can be accessed at the respective hyperlink of each mandate as listed in the table. Information regarding the tenure of each mandate holder is also reflected in the table.

Nomination, Selection and Appointment of Mandate Holders

Information on the selection and appointment process as well as

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), including vacancy notices,

can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/sp/nominations.

Selection and appointment process for independent United Nations experts of the Human Rights Council (HRC)

Information on the Selection and appointment process for independent United Nations experts of the Human Rights Council (HRC), including General Criteria, Technical and Objective Requirements and information on the application process can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/sp/basic-information-selection-independent-experts.

Appointments to be made at HRC52 (27 February to 4 April 2023)

Information, including application processes and deadlines, for appointments to be made at the Fifty-Second Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC52) can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/sp/hrc52.

Statistics on Current Special Procedure Mandate Holders

Statistics on Current Special Procedure Mandate Holders, inclusive of data regarding gender and geographic distribution, can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/special-procedures/2022-11-18/StatisticsCurrentMandateHolders.pdf.