PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation objectives of justice are being achieved.650 States should establish safeguards to prevent revictimization of claimants in discrimination cases.651 To guarantee access to justice, it is necessary to ensure the adherence of all actors involved in the investigation and determination of cases concerning discrimination to the principles of independence and impartiality. In this regard, the Human Rights Committee has underlined that mechanisms in place to investigate human rights violations should be “independent and impartial bodies”.652 Similarly, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has noted that institutions empowered to adjudicate or investigate discrimination complaints should do so “promptly, impartially, and independently”.653 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has made similar observations.654 Beyond independence and impartiality, States should ensure that the judiciary (and others involved in the determination of discrimination cases) have sufficient knowledge and understanding to ensure high quality in the administration of justice. States have positive obligations to train the judiciary and others involved in the administration of justice.655 This would include, for example, training on eliminating gender stereotyping656 and other forms of prejudice and stigma by the judiciary. These obligations are discussed further in part six of the present guide. (c) Accessibility, procedural accommodations and legal aid Justice systems must be accessible to those exposed to discrimination. In its general recommendation No. 33 (2015), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women identifies several measures that are necessary to ensure accessibility, including: (a) the provision of legal assistance and removal of economic barriers for users (discussed in respect of legal aid below); (b) the removal of linguistic barriers through the provision of translators and interpreters, and availability of assistance for persons who cannot read or write; (c) outreach, education and the production of legal resources on justice mechanisms, which should be made available in various formats and community languages; (d) the development of information and communications technology, while ensuring its widespread availability; (e) the removal of physical and environmental barriers to participation; and (f) the establishment of “justice access centres” to provide legal aid and support and facilitate access to justice through the provision of basic services such as childcare.657 Several of these measures respond directly to States’ obligations to respect the right to non-discrimination in access to justice. For instance, translation and interpretation services may be necessary to ensure the participation of linguistic minorities in court proceedings. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has referred to measures of this type as “procedural accommodations”.658 In 2020, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Disability and Accessibility co-published the “International Principles and Guidelines on Access to Justice for Persons with 90 650 Ibid., para. 14 (d) and (f). 651 Ibid., para. 51 (c). For resources relevant to the needs of persons exposed to discrimination, particularly in the context of hate crimes, see Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, “Understanding the needs of hate crime victims” (Warsaw, 2020); and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Ensuring Justice for Hate Crime Victims: Professional Perspectives (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2016). 652 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004), para. 15. 653 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009), para. 40. 654 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 33 (2015), paras. 14 (d), 15 (d), 18 (a), 20 (a) and 54. 655 See, for example, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 13 (2); and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 33 (2015), para. 64 (a). 656 See, for example, Simone Cusack, “Eliminating judicial stereotyping: equal access to justice for women in gender-based violence cases” (2014) (www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/StudyGenderStereotyping.doc); OHCHR, “Background paper on the role of the judiciary in addressing the harmful gender stereotypes related to sexual and reproductive health and rights” (2018) (www.ohchr.org/ Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/JudiciaryRoleCounterStereotypes_EN.pdf); and OHCHR, “Gender stereotyping and the judiciary” (2020) (www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GenderStereotyping_EN.pdf). 657 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 33 (2015), para. 17. 658 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018), para. 25 (d). See also the discussion of justifications in section I.A.4 of part two of the present guide.