Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 from Government Gazette.djvu/80



Chapter 9—State Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy

The Public Protector has the additional powers and functions prescribed by national legislation.

The Public Protector may not investigate court decisions.

The Public Protector must be accessible to all persons and communities.

Any report issued by the Public Protector must be open to the public unless exceptional circumstances, to be determined in terms of national legislation, require that a report be kept confidential.

Tenure

The Public Protector is appointed for a non-renewable period of seven years.

Functions of Human Rights Commission

The Human Rights Commission must —

promote respect for human rights and a culture of human rights; promote the protection, development and attainment of human rights; and monitor and assess the observance of human rights in the Republic.

The Human Rights Commission has the powers, as regulated by national legislation, necessary to perform its functions, including the power —

to investigate and to report on the observance of human rights; to take steps to secure appropriate redress where human rights have been violated; to carry out research; and to educate.

Each year, the Human Rights Commission must require relevant organs of state to provide the Commission with information on the measures that they have taken towards the realisation of the rights in the Bill of Rights concerning housing, health care, food, water, social security, education and the environment.

The Human Rights Commission has the additional powers and functions prescribed by national legislation.