A/HRC/42/37 their mostly oral character and adaptation to changing social, economic and other circumstances. Indigenous justice systems must not therefore be understood as systems that are static in a particular place or time, and incapable of evolving within their own distinct social, cultural and institutional context. 27. Experiences with colonialism and externally imposed influences have caused the weakening of the justice systems, institutions and traditions of many indigenous people. Nevertheless, there are active efforts by indigenous peoples worldwide to recover their traditional knowledge and systems of justice as part of their cultural revitalization efforts to strengthen their autonomy and governance. D. Challenges faced by indigenous peoples in the ordinary justice system 28. In most countries, the ordinary justice system is the only recognized avenue by States for indigenous peoples to seek legal redress for violation of their individual and collective rights, such as those involving land rights or protection of their traditional knowledge, or to address accusations of criminality against them. Even if indigenous courts and informal customary mechanisms exist in many countries, they are frequently not recognized by the State legal system. 29. Two overarching questions must be considered when looking at the experience of indigenous peoples in the ordinary justice system. First is the question of whether indigenous peoples are legally recognized as such in their country and therefore recognized as having specific and collective rights inherent in their link to traditional lands and natural resources and their right to self-determination. 30. A second question is whether States proactively monitor and take measures to correct any direct or indirect discriminatory impacts of their justice system on indigenous peoples. That requires the collection of disaggregated data regarding the number, frequency and nature of interaction of indigenous individuals with the system and observing whether human rights violations in the administration of justice disproportionately affect indigenous peoples. Analysis of disaggregated data serves to develop policies to ensure equitable treatment in the system for anyone engaged in it. Many countries rely on the formal principle of equality before the law to justify the lack of collection of such data (A/HRC/30/41/Add.1, para. 31).12 However, this means that actual discrimination in treatment of indigenous peoples within the legal system may not be detected, let alone addressed. 31. The situation of indigenous peoples around the world and within particular countries is diverse. They may encounter different experiences of and challenges in the ordinary justice system, depending on whether they live in urban areas or within rural communities, and whether they depend on traditional livelihoods on land, in forests or at sea. 32. In addressing the challenges faced by indigenous peoples in the ordinary justice system, the impact of intersecting grounds of discrimination in relation to sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation and gender identity, among others, must also be addressed. Limited access to justice and remedy 33. Access to ordinary justice continues to be severely limited for indigenous peoples across all the countries visited by the Special Rapporteur. Geographic obstacles are major concerns in many countries. The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the treaty bodies have made similar findings.13 Furthermore, indigenous peoples are often less likely to receive favourable rulings than non-indigenous litigants and even in cases where courts rule in favour of an indigenous person or community, the judgments are far less likely to actually be enforced ( A/HRC/39/17/Add.2, para. 69 and 12 13 See also the contributions to the present report from Denmark, Finland, Mexico and Norway. See, for example, A/HRC/24/50 and Corr.1; A/HRC/27/65; CEDAW/C/CRI/CO/7 para. 8 (d); CERD/C/CMR/CO/19-21, para. 17; CEDAW/C/THA/CO/6-7, para. 10; and CERD/C/FRA/CO/2021, para.12. 7