A/HRC/27/65 I. Introduction 1. In resolution 24/10, the Human Rights Council requested the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to continue its study on access to justice in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, with a focus on restorative justice and indigenous juridical systems, particularly as they relate to achieving peace and reconciliation, including an examination of access to justice related to indigenous women, children and youth, and persons with disabilities, and to present it to the Council at its twenty-seventh session. 2. The Expert Mechanism called for submissions from States, indigenous peoples, nonState actors, national human rights institutions and other stakeholders to inform the study. The submissions are, where permission was granted, publicly available on the Expert Mechanism’s website.1 The study also benefits from contributions made at the United Nations Expert Seminar on Restorative Justice, Indigenous Juridical Systems and Access to Justice for Indigenous Women, Children and Youth and Persons with Disabilities, held on 17 and 18 February 2014, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the University of Auckland Faculty of Law. The Expert Mechanism appreciates the submissions and is informed by them. II. Access to justice for indigenous peoples 3. The Expert Mechanism carried out a study on access to justice in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, which was presented to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session (A/HRC/24/50). This study outlined the right to access to justice as it applies to indigenous peoples. It examined the international and regional legal frameworks, with special emphasis on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The study analysed the relationship between access to justice and other rights. It proposed key areas for advancing the right to access to justice, including the role of national courts and criminal justice systems and the recognition of indigenous peoples’ justice systems. It gave special consideration to issues relevant to indigenous women, children and youth, and persons with disabilities. The study also examined the important role of truth and reconciliation processes to promote access to justice for indigenous peoples. 4. One of the conclusions of the previous study was the need for further analysis of three specific aspects of access to justice in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, which prompted the need for the current study. First, there was an identified need to examine the role of indigenous juridical systems, building upon past work on international and State recognition of these systems. Second, this study will also expand the Expert Mechanism’s analysis of barriers and remedies in access to justice for indigenous women, children and youth, and persons with disabilities. Finally, while the previous study addressed the issue of truth and reconciliation, with a focus on transitional justice and truth commissions, this study will examine the broader concept of restorative justice, linking it to self-determination, peace and reconciliation. 5. As the Expert Mechanism expressed in its 2013 study, “[a]ccess to justice requires the ability to seek and obtain remedies for wrongs through institutions of justice, formal or informal, in conformity with human rights standards. It is essential for the protection and 1 www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Pages/Followupstudyonaccesstojustice.aspx. 3