A/HRC/33/58 programme was aimed at promoting and monitoring legislation based on the Constitution, as well as international standards, including the Declaration. 15. Most indigenous peoples’ organizations reported a lack of national strategies or plans of action to achieve the ends of the Declaration, although some did highlight specific policies to address certain provisions of the Declaration. B. Self-determination and autonomy 16. The questionnaire posed the following question: “Have specific legislative, policy or administrative measures relating to self-determination and autonomy been adopted in your country? If yes, please provide details. If not, please outline any plans to develop legislative, policy or administrative measures in this area.” 17. The importance of self-determination has been highlighted through the work of the Expert Mechanism, including in its studies on access to justice (see A/HRC/24/50 and Corr.1 and A/HRC/27/65). The Expert Mechanism has repeatedly maintained that selfdetermination is an essential element for the fulfilment of other rights. 18. In its response, Denmark and Greenland referred to the 2009 Act on Greenland SelfGovernment, details and a copy of which were attached to a letter dated 8 February 2010 submitted to the General Assembly under the agenda item on the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Peoples and Countries (A/64/676) during its sixty-fourth session. In the preamble to the Act, it was recognized that the people of Greenland were a people, pursuant to international law, with the right to selfdetermination. The Act was based on an agreement between the Naalakkersuisut (Government of Greenland) and the Government of Denmark as equal partners. It provided for Greenland to assume new responsibilities and introduced new arrangements for mineral resources and economic issues. The Act affirmed that the Greenland self-government authorities exercised legislative and executive power in the fields of responsibility attributed to it. 19. According to Australia, the country did not have specific legislative measures on self-determination. However, Australia was a party to seven core international human rights treaties that recognized the right to self-determination. Australia recognized that people have the right to internal self-determination as reflected in article 46 of the Declaration. 20. Article 289 of the Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia enshrined the rights of indigenous peoples to self-governance and self-determination. The Plurinational State of Bolivia had a process in place for claiming indigenous autonomy that allowed for political, judicial, social, economic and cultural autonomy. In 2009, 11 indigenous municipalities had become autonomous through that process. 21. Peru highlighted policies and technical instruments for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, including protection and monitoring of territorial reserves. 22. Under the constitutional framework of Canada, indigenous peoples’ inherent right to self-government was recognized as an existing aboriginal right under section 35 of the Constitution. As such, self-government arrangements could be negotiated as part of modern treaties, which allowed indigenous peoples to govern their own internal affairs. Canada must consult with indigenous peoples where Crown actions could adversely affect protected treaty rights. 23. In Mexico, 23 states had recognized the right to self-determination and autonomy. Furthermore, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, together with the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, had conducted several 4