A/73/178/Rev.1 about how their data will be processed and find it difficult to understand the information they receive. 13 18. In order to ensure effective access to justice for migrants, States must make available the necessary economic and human resources to provide them with information in a language they can fully understand on the procedures and procedural safeguards they can call upon if their human rights are violated. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All M igrant Workers and Members of Their Families recognizes the right of migrants to be assisted free of charge by an interpreter if they are arrested (art. 16) or charged with a criminal offence (art. 18). The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women also recommends that States remove linguistic barriers by providing independent and professional translation and interpretation services, when needed, in order to guarantee the full understanding of judicial processes. 14 The Human Rights Committee has referred to the obligation of States to ensure that persons seeking international protection are given access to an interpreter as a guarantee of due process and has also referred to the obligation to respect the principle of non-refoulement. 15 19. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stressed the obligation to provide an interpreter “when one is unfamiliar with the language in which the proceedings are conducted”. 16 It also has indicated that States must take into account the basic procedural guarantees in keeping with the principles of the child ’s best interest and comprehensive protection, which include provision of an interpreter, if required, who is highly qualified to interview children. 17 20. The European Court of Human Rights has noted that, when migrants are detained, they have the right to receive information in a language that allows them to understand the reasons for detention, the procedure and the procedural safeguards that can be invoked. 18 According to information from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the police provides free interpretation to migrants in most (26) of the States in the Union. The African Commission on Human and Peoples ’ Rights, in its resolution on the right to recourse and to fair trial, has estab lished that the right to a fair trial includes the right to the free assistance of an interpreter. 19 D. The right to consular assistance 21. Consular assistance is also essential for effective access to justice for migrants. It is particularly urgent in the case of persons deprived of their liberty, whether for criminal or immigration reasons, as it often has a decisive impact on respect for procedural guarantees. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations establishes that if the interested party “so requests, the competent authorities of the receiving State shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner (art. 36, para. (b)). This is __________________ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 6/20 Submission by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. See general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice. See CCPR/C/MLT/CO/2. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Advisory Opinion No. 16/99 of 1 October 1999 on the right to information on consular assistance in the framework of the guarantee s of the due process of law, para. 120. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Advisor y Opinion No. 21/14 of 19 August 2014 on the rights and guarantees of children in the context of migration and/or in need of international protection. European Court of Human Rights, Saadi v. Italy. Available at http://www.achpr.org/sessions/11th/resolutions/4/. 18-15902