A/HRC/8/4 page 14 5. Physical barriers 31. The physical distance between client and court restricts the effective exercise of access to justice. This problem is common in island or archipelago States and in very large countries, where the concentration of legal services in urban areas works against the rural or island population far from the city. Some initiatives are trying to solve this problem by means of mobile courts30 as the Special Rapporteur found.31 The problem does not only affect developing countries: the European Court of Human Rights has found that, if the strict application of a procedural rule deprives a party of the right of access to a court, in requiring them to travel at short notice to a city where they do not live in order to lodge an appeal within the prescribed time, such a requirement is unreasonable and violates the right of access to justice.32 32. The effective exercise of the right of access to justice can also be violated where the architectural layout of judicial buildings ignores the special needs of particular groups such as people with disabilities33 and older people.34 Some States have adopted measures to mitigate this problem, but restricted access to public buildings such as courts remains a serious problem worldwide. D. How the structure and functioning of the judicial system affect access to justice 33. Access to justice depends not only on the existence of a judicial structure but on how that structure operates and is organized. 1. Courts - types and characteristics 34. Ordinary courts. The Human Rights Committee has described the criteria courts should meet in addition to their judicial functions, such as being established by law.35 An essential 30 En Guatemala los Juzgados Comunitarios pretenden llegar a zonas donde no hay administración de justicia y donde la mayoría de la población es indígena, en idiomas indígenas. A. Ordóñez, Investigación sobre acceso a la justicia en la República de Guatemala, Acceso a la Justicia y Equidad, San José: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 2000, pp. 189-193. 31 L. Despouy, Misión a Brasil, E/CN.4/2005/60/Add.3, Pár. 90. 32 ECHR, Case Pérez de Rada Cavanilles, 18/10/1998, 116/1997/900/1112. 33 Por ejemplo, en España se aprobó una ley sobre igualdad de oportunidades y accesibilidad de las personas con discapacidad (Ley 51/2003) y luego dos decretos (Real Decreto 366/2007 y Real Decreto 366/2007) que regulan tales previsiones en relación con, entre otras cuestiones, la administración de justicia. 34 Vid., R. C. Morgan, “From the elder-friendly law office to the elder-friendly courtroom: providing the same access and justice for all”, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Journal, vol. 2, 2006, p. 325. 35 CDH, Comunicación Nº 263/1987, González del Río c. el Perú, párr. 5.2.