and prevent discriminatory law and practices in the criminal justice system, including through the provision of practical recommendations to States and other relevant stakeholders, consultations on specific topics such as community policing, and the support of various funds which help fight against impunity with a strong victim-centered approach. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Ms Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, stressed the importance of addressing the issues currently faced by minorities in the criminal justice process, as reflected in the decision to devote both this year’s session of the Forum on Minorities and her annual report to the UN General Assembly on this topic. She reminded the forum that international law prohibits discrimination in the administration of justice and creates positive obligations to ensure that justice systems are sensitive to, and facilitate effective participation of, minorities. She highlighted a few of the issues encountered during her mandate, including: racial profiling during police procedures, excessive use of force, patterns of overrepresentation of minorities in pre-trial detention, inadequate legal representation and insufficient access to legal aid. She drew attention to the underrepresentation of minorities in law enforcement agencies, judiciaries, prosecution services and legal professions around the world, emphasizing the impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by minority women. She invited all participants to play an active role in contributing to the discussion on the draft set of recommendations. The Chair of the eighth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, Mr Joshua Castellino, reflected on the need for robust and fair criminal justice systems throughout the world in this time of heightened terrorist threat. He remarked that poorly designed criminal justice systems sometimes institutionalize social exclusion, heighten fear and suspicion, and generate schisms within society. He wished for the Forum to generate recommendations on how such systems could be reformed to better serve the interests of creating ordered, more inclusive and fairer societies that are representative of the diverse populations within them. Item II. Legal framework and key concepts This session provided an overview of existing international and regional standards and principles relevant to the fairness and effective safeguarding of minority rights at all stages of the criminal justice process. It also covered the role of international, regional and national mechanisms in guaranteeing a strong national legal framework for the protection of minorities and in ensuring institutional attention is given to issues relating to minorities. The President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Ms Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, stated that despite the principles of equality and nondiscrimination being entrenched in all legal systems in the Americas, de facto inequalities remained common practice, grounded in historical realities. The Inter American Commission on Human Rights has gathered evidence of discrimination from a number of sources and concludes that racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and in 3