A/HRC/24/50 contributes to continued mistrust towards the perpetrators, especially when it is the State that claims authority over indigenous peoples as a result of that same historical wrong. 7. Harm associated with historical injustices continues today and thus must be taken into account. Many of the contemporary challenges faced by indigenous peoples are rooted in past wrongs. III. Access to justice under international law 8. As the most comprehensive international instrument elaborating the rights of indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a key starting point for any consideration of their individual and collective rights, including their right to access to justice. The Declaration’s overarching provision on remedies – a key component – is article 40: Indigenous peoples have the right 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. Such a decision shall give due consideration to the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned and international human rights. 9. The Declaration is an instrument for achieving justice and is an important foundational framework for the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples. Its implementation can support the attainment of access to justice for indigenous peoples. 10. The Declaration’s numerous relevant provisions include rights to effective mechanisms for the prevention of, and redress for, inter alia: deprivation of cultural rights, dispossession of lands, territories and resources, and forced assimilation and integration (art. 8, para. 2); redress through effective mechanisms with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious or spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent (art. 11, para. 2); just and fair redress where deprived of their means of subsistence and development (art. 20); processes to recognize and adjudicate the rights of indigenous peoples related to their lands, territories and resources (art. 27); right to redress with respect to lands, territories and resources confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent (art. 28); effective mechanisms for redress in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources (art. 32, para. 3); the right to develop and maintain their institutional structures, inter alia, and their juridical systems or customs (art. 34); recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties (art. 37); and access to and prompt decisions through procedures and remedies vis-à-vis infringements of indigenous peoples’ individual and collective rights (art. 40). Many provisions provide for redress for historical wrongs, for example, article 28. A. Legal recognition and remedies 11. The provisions of the Declaration should guide the interpretation of international human rights treaties in relation to access to justice for indigenous peoples. Elements of access to justice include the right to an effective remedy, procedural fairness and the need for States to take positive measures to enable access to justice. 12. The Declaration is consistent with, and elaborates upon, the rights of indigenous peoples to access to justice as expressed in International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, which include rights, inter alia, to have access to legal proceedings for the 4