African Union Legal Instrument P a g e | 18 b. Each national protection authority shall formulate rules of procedure containing, inter alia, rules governing deliberations, processing and presentation of cases. 6. Membership of the national protection authority shall be incompatible with membership of Government, carrying out the functions of business executive and ownership of shares in businesses in the information and communication technologies sector. 7. a. Without prejudice to national legislations, members of the national protection authority shall enjoy full immunity for opinions expressed in the pursuit, or in connection with the pursuit of their duties. b. Members of the national protection authority shall not receive instructions from any other authority in the performance of their duties. 8. State Parties shall undertake to provide the national protection authority with the human, technical and financial resources necessary to accomplish their mission. Article 12: Duties and Powers of National Protection Authorities 1. The national protection authority shall ensure that the processing of personal data is consistent with the provisions of this Convention within State Parties of the African Union. 2. The national protection authorities shall ensure that Information and Communication Technologies do not constitute a threat to public freedoms and the private life of citizens. To this end, they are responsible for: a) Responding to every request for an opinion regarding personal data processing; b) Informing the persons concerned and data controllers of their rights and obligations; c) In a number of cases, authorize the processing of data files, particularly sensitive files; d) Receiving the preliminary formalities for personal data processing; e) Entertaining claims, petitions and complaints regarding the processing of personal data and informing the authors of the results thereof;