E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.2 page 13 Access to justice 32. Article 66 of the 1985 Constitution provides that the State must recognize, respect and promote the ways of life, customs, traditions and forms of social organization of the indigenous peoples, including their community and/or indigenous practices which are respected as a form of indigenous customary law. In 1996 Guatemala ratified International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries, which, under article 46 of the Constitution, takes precedence over domestic law on the subject and must therefore be applied and taken into consideration by judicial officials. Under the Agreement on the Strengthening of Civilian Power and on the Role of the Armed Forces and the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous People, which form part of the Peace Agreements, community courts of the peace were set up in 1997 with competence in criminal matters within the limits of each municipality in the departments with substantial indigenous populations - San Andrés Semetabaj, Sololá, San Rafael Petzal, Huehuetenango, San Luis, Petén, Santa María Chiquimula, Totonicapán, San Miguel Ixtahuacán and San Marcos.17 Of the seven persons who are members of these courts,18 none is a legal professional; they are individuals of acknowledged honour and influence put forward by the community, who reach their decisions by majority vote, after deliberation, in accordance with customary practice, fairness and the general principles of law.19 But these community courts of the peace cannot be considered as substitutes for the traditional systems of indigenous authority; they might be regarded as alternatives to the official system, but never as Maya justice. 33. In the past 10 years the number of courts has grown three times as fast as the population of the country, so that the ratio of one court for every 33,000 inhabitants in 1990 changed to one for every 22,000 in 2000. Greatest growth was recorded in the courts of first instance, whose numbers increased from 228 to 501 during that period, so that each department currently has at least one court of first instance and each municipality has one court of the peace. The greatest increase in courts of first instance occurred in the municipalities and departments outside the capital, leading to an improvement in geographical coverage. The rise was higher in the courts handling financial matters, which grew by a factor of six, and in the family courts, which grew by a factor of three and a half. There was a doubling in the numbers of civil and criminal courts. Over the same period other institutions and machinery were established, such as the Public Institute for Criminal Defence, the School of Judicial Studies, the centres for the administration of justice and a variety of conciliation and arbitration arrangements. The Office of the Human Rights Prosecutor contains a unit for the defence of indigenous peoples, a (still small) project for indigenous people’s problems and the office of the Procurator-General.20 34. Notwithstanding the measures described above, situations and problems persist which hinder access to justice for indigenous people. Courts are often located far from their communities, so that it is difficult and costly to travel to them. Judicial officials - a category which includes judges, assistants, procurators and the personnel of the Public Prosecutor’s office and the National Civil Police - have not changed their views or behaviour, which are generally perceived and reported as contrary to the interests of indigenous people, imbued with prejudice and frequently authoritarian, lead to ill-treatment and lack of respect and may involve corruption. Judges and other judicial officials (with very few exceptions) do not speak the indigenous language of the regions in which they work, are ignorant of the traditions and customs of the indigenous peoples, and lack proper respect for the indigenous authorities. It has also been