The objects and reasons of this Bill are firstly, to establish for the first time a National Commission for Human Rights and Equality in accordance with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles) and to grant it broad powers to safeguard the dignity and rights of the individual, to regulate its independent and impartial operation and consolidate relevant laws and regulations under a single Act, to repeal the Equality for Men and Women Act (Cap. 456), and to introduce into Maltese law for the first time Article 1 of the Twelfth Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, thereby providing the individual with greater protection against any form of discrimination.