A/HRC/31/72 I. Introduction 1. In accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 6/15 and 19/23, the present document contains the recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues. The eighth session was held on 24 and 25 November 2015 and considered the theme of “Minorities in the criminal justice system”. The work of the Forum was guided by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák. The Chair of the session was Joshua Castellino of India. More than 500 participants attended, including representatives of Member States and minority communities, non-governmental organizations, United Nations specialized agencies, regional and intergovernmental bodies and national human rights institutions. 2. The recommendations contained in the present document are based primarily on the provisions contained in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. In the Declaration, it is recognized that the comprehensive implementation of minority rights and the existence of adequate institutional and policy frameworks can effectively contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against members of minority communities, as well as promote their full equality before the law without any discrimination. 3. The recommendations are also based on existing human rights standards, international and regional instruments, principles and guidelines concerning the fairness and effective safeguarding of minority rights at all stages of the criminal justice process, including the jurisprudence and general comments of United Nations treaty bodies and relevant reports and recommendations of different special procedure mandate holders. 4. The recommendations take into account the great variety of legal systems and minority situations around the world and acknowledge that the patterns of violations of the rights of minorities may vary between systems and that, consequently, different measures may be required to protect minority rights throughout the criminal justice process within a given State. The present document makes no claim to study the diversity of national criminal justice systems nor does it explore how specific systems may generate or accentuate particular forms of discrimination against minorities. 5. The recommendations aim to provide State authorities, decision makers, public officials, minority groups, non-governmental organizations, academics and other stakeholders with an overview of some of the key challenges for minorities in relation to various stages of the criminal justice process and proposes some concrete solutions thereto. II. General considerations 6. The recommendations proposed in the present document should be read in conjunction with the substantive and action-oriented recommendations formulated at the seven previous sessions of the Forum on Minority Issues, as they also apply to situations in which discrimination in the criminal justice system is to be prevented and addressed. 7. In particular, participants at previous sessions of the Forum addressed some of the most fundamental, long-standing concerns and entrenched challenges that minorities face in their access to fundamental economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, depriving them of the opportunity to contribute fully and on an equal footing to the socioeconomic and political life of the State. The present recommendations acknowledge the importance of addressing the systemic nature of social and economic exclusion and political marginalization, including institutionalized discrimination against minorities, as an essential element in the complex matrix between exclusion and criminal behaviour. The recommendations therefore recognize that States must invest in initiatives, including early 3