According to Article 40 of UNDRIP, indigenous peoples have the right to access procedures aiming to resolve conflicts with states and other parties, and the right to seek remedies for violations of their individual and collective rights. In order to ensure effective access of indigenous peoples to these mechanisms, it is important that they have the possibility to be recognised collectively as legal entities or juridical personalities.
Data on this can either be found in national legislation, in the form of provisions for indigenous communities to act as legal entities (e.g. getting collective titles to land) – or there may be case law-examples of indigenous communities having had their collective cases taken up by the courts.
Please reply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and provide additional information in the comment box if the answer is ‘Yes’.

This question monitors indigenous peoples’ access to and equality before courts and tribunals.
In many countries, indigenous individuals are overrepresented among prison inmates, in comparison with their share of the overall population. An in-depth study of this phenomenon was conducted by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2013.
Data on this may be obtained from the national statistical office, the Ministry of Justice, or other sources.
Please enter the percentage in the first answer-box, if information is availale – or put 0(zero) in the second box, if no data is available. Add additional comments as relevant in the box at the bottom.

Is your people/community recognised as having its own distinct identity and legal personality, with all associated legal duties and rights? Does your community have the right to act as a collective before the legal authorities (hold contracts, approach the courts, etc.)? If yes – you are indeed recognized as a legal entity, and you can answer ‘yes’ to this question. If not, please click ‘no’.

If your people/community has experienced violations of your rights to lands, territories and resources since 2008, indicate whether the people committing these abuses have been penalized by a court. Please provide additional information in the box below on any such cases.

This questions monitors indigenous peoples’ access to remedy for infringement of their collective rights.
Data source: Case law, 2008 to present.
Please reply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and provide additional information in the comment box if the answer is ‘Yes’.

Please indicate to what extent your people/community is actually able to take legal action and seek remedies, when their rights are violated. You are given five response actions:
• Not at all= your community/people is not at all able to take legal action when their rights are violated
• To a limited extent = your community/people has been able to take legal action in a few cases where their rights were violated but you face practical barriers to taking legal action or the legal framework provides limited opportunities for litigating your rights and receiving remedies
• To some extent = your community/people has been able to take legal action in some cases where their rights were violated, and the legal framework provides some opportunities for litigating your rights and receiving remedies.
• To a considerable extent = your community/people has been able to take legal action in most cases where their rights were violated, and the legal framework provides ample opportunities for litigating your rights and receiving remedies.
• Fully = your community/people is able to take legal action every time their rights are violated, and the legal framework is consistent with UNDRIP and therefore provides full opportunities for litigating your rights and receiving remedies.
• We have not experienced violations that would require legal action and remedies= this is the ideal situation, where the rights of your community/people are fully recognized and protected, without need for legal action.

If your people / community face barriers to take legal action and seek remedy, please identify the factors that limit youraccess to justice here. Please note that you can tick as many boxes as relevant, and also identify other factors that are relevant in your context. If you tick the “others” option, then please provide additional information. The response options listed are the following:
·       Non-recognition of your rights in the national legal framework – tick this box if there are legal barriers to justice for you as an indigenous people/community (maybe national law does not recognize indigenous identity, maybe your collective rights to land, traditional occupations, culture, spiritual practice, etc. are not recognized – or maybe there are other legal barriers?)
·       Low awareness in your community/people about rights and legal opportunities – tick this box if you think an important reason why your community/people does not take legal action is a lack of awareness of rights
·       Lack of necessary financial resources – tick this box if a key constraint to taking legal action is financial constraints (e.g. cost of lawyers, travelling, pressure to pay bribes, etc.)
·       Limited access to legal aid – tick this box if your community has given up on taking legal action because of limited legal insights, and lack of access to legal aid
·       Language barriers – are you giving up on taking legal actions because the authorities you would have to deal with speak a language you are not fluent in?
·       Distance to judicial institutions – is distance, or travelling complications, making it too difficult to take legal action?
·       Others – please specify in the box below if you experience other barriers than the ones mentioned here

Indigenous peoples are often not familiar with national laws or the national legal system and do not have the educational background or the economic means to ensure their access to justice. Often, they do not speak or read the official language used in legal proceedings, and they may find courts, hearings or tribunals confusing. To address this situation, Article 13(2) of UNDRIP stipulates that "States shall take effective measures to ensure that […] indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means."
Data source: National legislation.
Please reply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and provide additional information in the comment box if the answer is ‘Yes’.

Article 40 of UNDRIP holds that decisions on conflict and dispute resolution and remedies "shall give due consideration to the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned". This question is therefore related to the broader question of recognition of customary law (addressed question 30).
Data source: Case law, 2008 to present.
Please reply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and provide additional information in the comment box if the answer is ‘Yes’.

This question monitors whether appropriate procedures are in place to secure that courts are competent to hear indigenous peoples’ cases.
Data source: Ministry of Justice or a related agency in the national judicial system.
Please answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for ‘Judges’, ‘law enforcement agencies’ and ‘Other legal workers’ respectively, and provide additional information and references if ‘Yes’ in the comment box.