A/HRC/10/51 page 5 Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/ECU/CO/19 and CERD/C/NIC/CO/14) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/CO/COL/CO/6, CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6, CEDAW/C/SUR/CO/3 and CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/6) have both identified the challenge of ensuring the participation of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women, in political and public affairs, decision-making positions in all fields and administration at all levels. 11. With regard to consultation, treaty bodies recommended that consultations be held, including to seek the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, in cases of activities carried out or planned in areas of spiritual and cultural significance to them. Treaty bodies also stressed the need for consultation prior to large-scale development projects (such as the establishment of national parks) in indigenous territories and before granting concessions for economic exploitation on disputed lands or any exploitation of natural resources in indigenous territories (see CERD/C/IND/CO/19, CERD/C/ETH/CO/15, CCPR/C/CHL/CO/5 and CCPR/C/PAN/CO/3). 12. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has adopted preliminary guidelines for the development of national preventive mechanisms, to be established or designated by each State party within a year after the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or of its ratification or accession (CAT/OP/SWE/1). The guidelines specifically provide that the membership of such national mechanisms should be gender-balanced and have adequate representation of ethnic, minority and indigenous groups. 13. Another issue that appears frequently in reviews of State party reports is the question of access to justice. In addition to necessary measures to ensure access to justice without discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recognized the importance of respect for and recognition of traditional systems of justice and their compatibility with national systems of justice (CERD/C/ECU/CO/19 and CERD/C/CAN/CO/18). 14. The Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination pointed out that indigenous peoples face language obstacles in their access to justice. In the view of the committees (CCPR/C/CRI/CO/5, CERD/C/NIC/CO/14 and CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6), implementation of the right of indigenous peoples to use their languages in judicial proceedings remains a challenge in a number of countries. 15. The Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations to Costa Rica (CCPR/C/CRI/CO/5), welcomed as a good practice in the area of access of justice the creation of a specialized position on indigenous issues at the Supreme Court as well as the setting up of a group of translators in the various indigenous languages spoken in the country. The distribution to judges of a note on consultation with indigenous peoples was also welcomed by the Committee. 16. The issues of census data and self-identification have been addressed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/SLV/CO/2) and the Committee on the