A/HRC/17/30 effective remedy and fair trial guarantees. Laws, plans, policies or programmes that do not give women and men the right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court or tribunal previously established by the law are discriminatory. 39. Remedies should be available and adequate, and therefore, gender-sensitive. These are basic conditions for the effective realization of women's right to access to justice. Women should therefore be knowledgeable of their rights and of all mechanisms that are available to them to seek redress. The State is under the obligation to ensure that those mechanisms are accessible to women and that redress is provided with impartiality and without discrimination, in particular on the ground of gender. States are therefore obliged not to obstruct the right of access to judicial and other remedies against violations of human rights, and to remove all obstacles (be they legal, social, cultural, economic or other) that prevent or hinder the possibility of access to justice by women. 40. Affirmative action, including temporary special measures,26 by States should aim to guarantee access to justice on an equal footing by means, for example, of the granting of legal aid and assistance for the purposes of securing the effectiveness of this right. Women should therefore receive adequate legal aid and counsel as may be required according to their specific situation. 41. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur wishes to insist on the need to establish within the State a system to provide adequate legal aid and counsel, with specific focus on women from vulnerable backgrounds. In specific circumstances, this system may include for example, free public defence for facilitating access to justice by the poor. Adequate legal aid and counsel impact positively on other fair trial rights, including the right of equality of arms, as the unequal economic or social status of the litigants is usually translated into the unequal possibility of defence in trial.27 42. The judicial system should enjoy independence and impartiality in the adjudication and determination of the most adequate type of redress or compensation to violations of women's rights and the State apparatus should have the capacity to enforce orders, judicial decisions and other agreements and settlements that advance gender equality and ensure women's rights protection. Moreover, the judiciary should enjoy the full cooperation of law enforcement officials specially trained on gender issues and women’s human rights so as to uphold accountability. 43. States should show their serious resolve, commitment and political will to empower women, put an end to discrimination and violence against women, and achieve gender equality and advance women’s protection. Some of the indicators of the State commitment to take all steps that are necessary to achieve gender equality include the creation of an environment where the rule of law can flourish, together with gender-oriented policy analysis, mainstreaming gender in the planning of courses of action to follow in line with the international obligations of the State, gender-sensitive justice reform initiatives, and marshalling of resources for ensuring gender-sensitive administration of justice. Where capacity gaps remain (e.g. lack of human, financial or other resources), the Special Rapporteur encourages international cooperation and technical assistance to help in building the capacities of Governments, and other stakeholders to identify and address gender-specific barriers for the full enjoyment of human rights, filling in protection gaps and providing effective remedies and mechanisms for reparation and redress. 26 27 See Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 4.1. See A/HRC/8/4, para. 21. 9