A/HRC/23/14 for Liechtenstein human rights NGOs in each of the last four years. The NGOs also had the opportunity to comment on the draft national report for the second UPR of Liechtenstein. 8. Liechtenstein had also improved its data situation relating to the protection of human rights and non-discrimination and, since 2010, the Government had issued an annual report on the situation of human rights in Liechtenstein. 9. The Minister emphasized that many of the developments of the past years could be understood only with reference to the integration of Liechtenstein into Europe: Liechtenstein was a small State that simultaneously belonged to two economic areas: the Customs and Currency Area of Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA). With the accession of Liechtenstein to the Schengen/Dublin area on 19 December 2011, a further integration step in Europe had been taken. That meant that for over a year Liechtenstein had belonged to the European area of freedom, security and justice. 10. Consequently, Liechtenstein had reviewed various national laws and aligned them to the European level. The Schengen/Dublin agreements offered individuals an extensive and unmatched degree of self-realization. That was true both for Liechtenstein citizens and for foreign citizens residing in Liechtenstein and entailed a more objective and improved human rights situation, be it in regard to asylum or migration in general. The new Asylum Act had entered into force on 1 June 2012. One major improvement was the inclusion of the explicit possibility of settling refugees recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Liechtenstein. 11. About one third of the Liechtenstein resident population was composed of foreign citizens. Because of the many commuters from abroad, two thirds of the workforce were foreign nationals. The best possible promotion of the integration of the foreign population, the promotion of mutual understanding, and the fight against racism and xenophobia therefore had a very high priority for the Government. With regard to the fight against racism and xenophobia, Liechtenstein had in recent years reinforced efforts against rightwing extremism. Over the period 2010–2015, the Government had adopted a plan of measures for that purpose. 12. As for strengthening of the rights of accused persons and suspects in the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Minister reported that the revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2011 provided new rules, particularly governing the right of access to documents, the right to translation assistance, the right to request measures of enquiry and the right to free choice of counsel with the possibility of contacting a lawyer during police investigations, among others. These improvements complemented the strengthening of victims’ rights in recent years. 13. Regarding gender equality, women enjoyed equal rights under the law, but were still underrepresented in many areas. The challenge was to make de facto equality possible. An important area in that regard was equal opportunity in the labour market and a balanced representation of women and men in political bodies. Measures had also been taken against domestic violence, and the category of criminal offences that must be prosecuted ex officio had been expanded. The prevention of human trafficking had also been strengthened with a new prevention programme. 14. In the area of children and young people, the entry into force of the completely revised Children and Youth Act at the beginning of 2009 was a milestone. The new law creates two new independent institutions: the Children and Youth Advisory Council and the Ombuds Office for Children and Young People. Important improvements over the last four years were also achieved by expanding the protection of children from sexual abuse and other forms of sexual violence through a revision of the sexual criminal law in 2010, which was an important step for the domestic implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child 4