A/HRC/37/25 60. The Committee has recommended that training programmes address such areas as: (a) barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing justice; 87 (b) the rights enshrined in the Convention, including participation on an equal basis with others; 88 (c) the provision of procedural accommodations in the legal process; 89 (d) overcoming gender- and disability-based stereotypes; 90 (e) the rights connected to marriage, family, parenthood, fertility and relationships; 91 and (f) ways to combat prejudice against persons with disabilities, particularly those with psychosocial and/or intellectual impairments. 61. Several training programmes demonstrate ways in which article 13 (2) can be implemented. For example, in Spain, police and civil society have designed a training manual for distribution to police stations. In South Africa, the Police Service has prioritized the training of its staff about the rights of persons with disabilities. The European Union, Estonia and France have trained judges and other agents of justice in this regard. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 62. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities innovates the notion of access to justice in international human rights law by defining what access means for persons with disabilities, including tools to overcome barriers, and recognizing the administration of justice as an integral part of governance in which participation is key to promoting citizenship. 63. The right to a fair trial for persons with disabilities includes ensuring that they have equal access to claim rights, meaning that they must have access to courts and legal proceedings and to maintain legal standing. Equal recognition before the law and the right to access to justice are intrinsically intertwined, and often one element cannot be enjoyed without the other. States should modify civil, criminal and procedural laws which prevent persons with disabilities from directly or indirectly participating in judicial or administrative processes on an equal basis with others either by granting third-party representation in law or in fact without free and informed consent or by denying legal standing. States should also implement laws and policies that ensure that information needed to defend rights is accessible, and that free and affordable legal aid is provided to persons with disabilities in all areas of law. 64. Within proceedings, persons with disabilities face a number of barriers to access justice due to discriminatory laws and practices, including being denied the right to a trial. In respect of the principle of equality of arms, States should repeal such laws and prohibit those practices and implement anti-discrimination measures, including providing procedural accommodations when necessary, in all their forms and in all legal proceedings. States should also reform their legislation that, as a consequence of depriving persons with disabilities of legal capacity, promotes further violations of the right to a fair trial, including the presumption of innocence, the right to be heard in person, the right to contest witnesses and the right to offer evidence, among other procedural safeguards of due process of law. 65. The right to an effective remedy includes the obligation on the part of States to act with due diligence to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators and/or provide remedies. Redress and reparation, in all their components, should be provided, taking into consideration the specific circumstances of the person with disability, addressing systemic change, including the exposure of truth as a component of satisfaction, and providing guidance for legal and policy reform and capacitybuilding as guarantees of non-repetition. 87 88 89 90 91 16 See CRPD/C/LTU/CO/1, para. 28. See CRPD/C/SVK/CO/1, para. 42 (a); CRPD/C/ARM/CO/1, para. 22; CRPD/C/BIH/CO/1, para. 25; CRPD/C/MDA/CO/1, para. 27 (b); CRPD/C/COL/CO/1, para. 35 (d); and CRPD/C/ETH/CO/1, para. 30. See CRPD/C/SVK/CO/1, para. 42 (b). See CRPD/C/CYP/CO/1, para. 18. See CRPD/C/ITA/CO/1, para. 30.