A/HRC/42/37 institutional structures, including their juridical systems or customs in accordance with international human rights standards. 15. The Declaration furthermore provides for the right of indigenous peoples to have access to financial and technical assistance from States and through international cooperation, for the enjoyment of the rights contained in the Declaration, including the rights mentioned above (art. 39). 16. The International Labour Organization Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) also provides for the recognition of indigenous justice systems. Article 8 provides for the recognition of indigenous customs, customary laws and institutions “where these are not incompatible with fundamental rights defined by the national legal system and with internationally recognized human rights”. Article 9 provides that “to the extent compatible with the national legal system and internationally recognized human rights, the methods customarily practised by the peoples concerned for dealing with offences committed by their members shall be respected”. It also sets out that with regard to penal matters, their customs shall be taken into consideration by the authorities and courts dealing with such cases. 17. At the regional level, the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples contains relevant provisions on the law and jurisdiction of indigenous peoples. Like the United Nations Declaration, it provides for the right of indigenous peoples to promote, develop and maintain their institutional structures, distinctive customs, procedures and practices and juridical systems or customs, in accordance with international human rights standards (art. XXII (1)). It also provides that “indigenous law and legal systems shall be recognized and respected by the national, regional and international legal systems��� and that indigenous individuals are “entitled, without discrimination, to equal protection and benefit of the law, including the use of linguistic and cultural interpreters” in matters before State jurisdictions (art. XXII (2) and (3)). Access to justice and the right to remedy 18. The obligation of the State to provide an effective remedy for human rights violations is enshrined in article 2 (3) (a) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perpetrators must be brought to justice and victims provided with reparation. 6 19. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms the right of indigenous peoples to “access to and prompt decision through just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes with States or other parties, as well as to effective remedies for all infringements of their individual and collective rights” which should give due consideration “to the customs, traditional, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned and international human rights” (art. 40). Article 13 asserts the responsibility of States to ensure that the right to indigenous languages is protected and that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation. 7 20. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has upheld the obligation of States to guarantee the right of indigenous peoples to judicial protection, taking into account their specificities, their economic and social characteristics, their situation of special vulnerability and their customary law, values and customs. 8 6 7 8 See also Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant and General Assembly resolution 60/147. Analogous provisions on the right to take legal proceedings and the provision of interpretation are contained in article 12 of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention. See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, judgment of 17 June 2005, para. 63, and Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, judgment of 29 March 2006, paras. 82 and 83. 5