E/CN.4/2004/80 page 13 indigenous people because of their language and culture. Language is one of the main difficulties preventing access by the indigenous to ordinary justice, national registries and any legal proceeding. Indigenous-language speakers are at a disadvantage in the justice system, which operates in a cultural and linguistic framework that is not theirs. Judicial proceedings take place in Spanish, even in areas with a high concentration of indigenous people, and the number of interpreters or bilingual legal practitioners is totally insufficient. The situation of indigenous women is even more serious because of their high rates of monolingualism and illiteracy.19 39. Ongoing intercultural training should be given to justice administration officers. Officials of judicial bodies need to be aware of the indigenous groups in their areas. Indigenous people should have the opportunity to become members of the judicial administration, in order to overcome the atmosphere of “learned helplessness” in which they are immersed. States should adopt positive measures that encourage indigenous employment in legislative, judicial, enforcement and corrective bodies. 40. In order to facilitate indigenous peoples’ contacts with the judicial system, the idea of court facilitators, or court navigators, has been suggested. The facilitator is a person familiar with the legal systems and court processes and who also understands indigenous native languages and cultures. Courts in Manitoba and Colorado have already put this into practice. The Canadian 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act is a step in the right direction, reducing the use of the formal justice system and overreliance on incarceration and improving mechanisms of reintegration and rehabilitation for indigenous youth. The Act also applies the principles of participation and consultation with indigenous communities concerning youth in the criminal justice system.20 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that States parties respect the methods customarily practised by indigenous peoples for dealing with criminal offences committed by children when it is in the best interest of the child and in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All these dimensions are also taken into account in other international instruments related to juvenile justice, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (“The Beijing Rules”), and the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines).21 41. In this regard, traditional methods of restorative justice have been identified as a means of responding positively to offences committed by children, in accordance with human rights principles. Indigenous traditions can be a means of dealing with children in conflict with the law in a constructive manner, without resorting to punitive approaches, hence favouring their reintegration in the community. Constructive approaches to dealing with children in conflict with the law should build on indigenous traditions; they can be educational, favouring the child’s rehabilitation, as they involve both the child and the community, and they prove to be less costly and more effective than keeping a child in detention. 42. The obstacles indigenous people face in the justice system are merely symptoms of a larger picture of complex social problems related to a history of discrimination, marginalization and social exclusion, including poverty and unemployment, which is often expressed through alcoholism and drug abuse, homelessness and violence. Indigenous women are even more