PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation States must remove legal, financial, physical, communicative and other barriers to participation in the enforcement system through accessibility measures and procedural accommodation. Legal aid and support should be provided wherever necessary to ensure that the right to non-discrimination is realizable. An inclusive approach should be taken to legal standing and the participation of interested third parties. Anti-discrimination legislation should ensure that there are no barriers to the admissibility of evidence that could establish a finding of discrimination. Rules of evidence must be adapted to ensure effective justice. This includes, in all areas of law except the criminal, the adoption of rules requiring a “shift” in the burden of proof from the claimant to the respondent once a prima facie case of discrimination has been established. In situations in which a person who is alleged to have experienced discrimination establishes before a court, or other competent authority, facts from which it may be presumed that there has been discrimination (a prima facie case), it shall be for the respondent to prove that there has been no breach of the right to non-discrimination. In many cases, justice has only been available to victims of discrimination at the international level, after domestic remedies have been exhausted. States should ensure that individuals can submit complaints of discrimination to the United Nations treaty bodies by ratifying the relevant optional protocols and making the necessary declarations under the relevant international human rights instruments. When adopting comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, States should seize the opportunity to make these declarations, as well as to affirm their role vis-à-vis the national system and to inform the public of their availability. F. Equality bodies Comprehensive anti-discrimination law must provide for the establishment of independent, effective and accessible equality bodies. These bodies must be afforded the resources and given the functions and powers necessary to fully and effectively discharge the full breadth of their mandate to promote equality and prevent discrimination. They must be enabled to: (a) provide support, including legal advice and representation, to persons and groups exposed to discrimination and intolerance and pursue litigation on their behalf; (b) promote good equality practice in all sectors; (c) conduct research; (d) provide information on rights and engage in public debate on equality; and (e) provide policy advice. Equality bodies may also be mandated to consider complaints of discrimination, and issue recommendations or make decisions. In situations in which equality bodies have decision-making authority, they must be empowered to ensure effective access to justice and to provide both remedy and sanction. G. Implementation Comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation must require and provide a framework for the State to discharge its institutional and policy obligations to implement the rights to equality and non-discrimination. This necessitates, among other obligations: • The development, adoption and implementation of equality and non-discrimination policies and strategies, and the mainstreaming of equality and non-discrimination considerations into all other policies and programmes. • The integration of equality impact assessment in all aspects of public law and policy. Equality impact assessment entails pre-emptive, consultative, and data-driven assessment of laws, policies or decisions in order to identify and avert any discriminatory impacts; to identify and ensure that the particular needs of persons and groups who experience or are exposed to discrimination are accommodated and addressed; and to ensure that equality is effectively advanced. xvi