A/HRC/25/35 child normally appears in a customary proceeding with his or her family, and the focus is on reparation, reconciliation and ensuring the child remains part of the community. 31. However, in spite of some of the positive features of customary and religious justice mechanisms, human rights concerns may nevertheless arise.39 Persons acting in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity may not be familiar with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, there may not be specially established procedures when dealing with children, and they may still use sanctions for wrongful conduct that are incompatible with human rights, such as corporal punishment or banishment, and sanctions that discriminate on the basis of gender or other status. Possible avenues to address human rights issues in customary and religious justice mechanisms, without jeopardizing their positive aspects, may include training and awareness raising initiatives, as well as education on children’s rights. Complaint mechanisms at the international level 32. States parties are primarily obliged to develop appropriate national mechanisms to enable children whose rights have been violated to have access to effective remedies at the domestic level. However, in order to reinforce and complement the national system, complaint mechanisms have also been established at the regional40 and international level.41 One important development in that context is the adoption of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which establishes a communications procedure. Upon entry into force of the third Optional Protocol,42 children will have the possibility to submit a complaint about violations of their rights to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Training on access to justice for children and children’s rights 33. Another crucial aspect of the right to access to justice for children is the training of relevant professionals on relevant legislation, including anti-discrimination and gender equality laws, training and development of child-sensitive skills to communicate with children and creating a safe environment in the justice process. Such training should be multi-disciplinary and include all persons working with and for children, such as lawyers, judges, public prosecutors, police, teachers, prison staff, social workers, health professionals, as well as persons working in the alternative care system, public administration, immigration control, civil society actors and traditional leaders. 34. In most countries, important initiatives have been undertaken to ensure child rights training for professionals working in the justice system and other public officials, including the incorporation of children’s rights training in university curricula and compulsory training courses. The Mexican Supreme Court, for instance, issued a “Protocol of action for those delivering justice in cases affecting children and adolescents”. By comprehensively expounding the general rules and principles that need to be observed at all stages of a 39 40 41 42 Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence and Children and Plan International on Protecting children from harmful practices in plural legal systems, 2012, p. 9. For example, the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights and the European Court of Human Rights; the African Court and Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Violations of children’s rights may be raised before all human rights treaty bodies that have the competence to consider individual complaints. According to article 19 (1) of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the protocol will enter into force three months after the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession. As of November 2013, 8 States had ratified the Convention, including Albania, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Gabon, Germany, Montenegro, Portugal, Spain and Thailand. 11