A/HRC/23/43 men, and whether measures had been taken to ensure that women had “equal access to legal aid, in particular in family matters”.9 31. Other human rights treaty bodies have also mentioned the right to have access to legal aid in their general comments or general recommendations. In its general comment No. 7 (1997), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights included legal aid in the list of procedural guarantees that should be provided to persons who have been subject to forced eviction and seek redress from the courts. 10 32. In its general recommendation XXXI (2005), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that States parties to the Convention should (a) supply legal information to persons belonging to the most vulnerable social groups, who are often unaware of their rights; (b) promote, in the areas where such persons live, institutions such as free legal help and advice centres, legal information centres and centres for conciliation and mediation; and (c) expand their cooperation with associations of lawyers, university institutions, legal advice centres and non-governmental organizations specializing in protecting the rights of marginalized communities and in the prevention of discrimination. 11 In its general recommendation XXIX (2002), the Committee also recommended that States take the necessary steps to secure equal access to the justice system for all members of descent-based communities, “including by providing legal aid, facilitating of group claims and encouraging non-governmental organizations to defend community rights”. 12 33. In its general comment No. 3 (2012), the Committee against Torture stated that States parties should provide adequate legal aid to those victims of torture or ill-treatment lacking the necessary resources to bring complaints and to make claims for redress, and that the failure to provide sufficient legal aid and protection measures for victims and witnesses impede the enjoyment of the right to redress and prevent effective implementation of article 14.13 34. In its general comment No. 1 (2011) on domestic migrant workers, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families encouraged embassies and consulates of countries of origin present in countries where migrant domestic workers are employed to ensure, in coordination with the authorities in the countries of employment, adequately trained staff and mechanisms, including telephone hotlines, to receive and address complaints made by migrant domestic workers, including through the provision of legal aid.14 35. In accordance with the jurisprudence of existing human rights treaty bodies, the Special Rapporteur considers that the notion of beneficiaries of legal aid should be extended to any person who comes into contact with the law and does not have the means to pay for counsel. This concept also includes (a) any person whose rights or freedoms have been violated as a result of an act, or a failure to act, perpetrated by a State actor, and (b) any person who participates in judicial or extrajudicial procedures aimed at determining rights and obligations “in a suit at law”. 9 10 11 12 13 14 CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10, para. 18. Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1998, Supplement No. 2 (E/1998/22), annex IV, para. 15. Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixtieth Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/60/18), general recommendation XXXI, paras. 7-9. Ibid., Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/HRC/57/18), general recommendation XXIX. CAT/C/GC/3, paras. 30 and 38. CMW/C/GC/1, para. 62. 7