A/HRC/23/43 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 15 March 2013 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-third session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul Summary In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers examines the relevance and analyses the possibilities of providing legal aid to individuals who come into contact with the law but cannot afford the costs of legal advice, counsel and representation. The main goal of the report is to encourage States to develop and implement effective and sustainable legal aid schemes to enable individuals to exercise and enjoy a number of human rights, including the rights to a fair trial and to an effective remedy. The Special Rapporteur considers that legal aid should be ensured both in criminal and in non-criminal cases, and encompass all stages of judicial or extrajudicial procedures, thus contributing to the elimination of obstacles that hamper access to justice through the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal counsel, representation and access to the court system. Following a brief outline of the activities carried out by the Special Rapporteur in 2012, the thematic section of the present report consists of three parts. The first highlights existing international human rights standards relating to legal aid; the second focuses on the normative content of the right to legal aid, and reviews the jurisprudence of human rights treaty bodies and regional courts on this issue; while the third contains an analysis of the legislative, judicial, administrative, budgetary, educative and other measures that States are required to take in order to give effect to the right to legal aid in their domestic order. The final section contains conclusions and a number of recommendations aimed at assisting States and other stakeholders in adopting and implementing appropriate and effective measures to strengthen access to legal aid in their systems of administration of justice. GE.13-11935