A/HRC/8/30 Page 14 44. Austria highlighted that the establishment of “Human Rights Advisers” to the police is a particular interesting and exemplary measure and requested Poland to elaborate more on this, on the nature of these posts, by whom they are filled and who appoints them. Austria recommended that Poland continue this practice in the future and share experiences on this measure with other interested States. Austria further noted that in the Concluding Observations made by CEDAW last year, the Committee voiced concern at the promotion of gender equality in Poland, in particular at the abolition of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Gender Status in 2007. In this regard, Austria asked Poland to elaborate on the reasoning behind this abolishment and what measures the Government has taken to promote gender equality in all spheres of life and not only in the labour market. As a recommendation, Austria encouraged Poland to use a comprehensive approach in the promotion of gender equality, in particular by adopting a comprehensive law on gender equality as recommended by CEDAW. 45. Norway noted that under Polish law access to therapeutic abortion is granted on certain conditions, including when a women’s health or life is at risk. On this matter, Norway requested further elaboration on what is done to facilitate access to abortion for women who qualify for this under Polish law. Norway also noted that a draft law on equal treatment on various grounds, including sexual orientation, has been prepared by Poland but that its adoption has been delayed. Norway requested Poland to indicate when the equality legislation was expected to be adopted, however, since this question had already been addressed by the Polish delegation in its initial statement, Norway refrained from asking. 46. Israel referred to the Office of the Civil Rights Ombudsman described in the Polish national report and particularly to its capacity to hearing complaints from anyone within Poland regarding allegations of human rights violations by public authorities. Israel noted with interest that there was no specified application procedure, which undoubtedly makes the office of the Ombudsman available to a much larger segment of the population. Israel asked Poland to elaborate on how this informal complaint procedure functions. 47. Slovakia noted with appreciation that the resolution on good governance introduced amongst others by Poland and adopted at the seventh session of the HRC focused on the issue of the fight against corruption in the context of human rights. Slovakia asked Poland to elaborate on the issue of how human rights and good governance principles can help fighting corruption. It further asked whether Poland could share with other States some of its own experiences in this regard. 48. Following the discussion, the delegation of Poland responded to most of the questions raised during the interactive dialogue. Regarding Poland’s actions to combat racism and xenophobia, it was indicated that this is not a very widespread phenomenon, but that it is important from the point of view of Polish society. It indicated that Poland has introduced training for public officials, such as the police, prosecutors and judges, and also cooperates closely with civil society, including Jewish organizations, so as to better monitor and identify cases of racism and xenophobia. Within the Ministry of Interior and Administration, there is a team tasked with collecting information on situations of discrimination both from non-governmental organizations and from individual persons. Poland has initiated a programme to combat hate-based crimes and it has already undertaken certain measures. In cooperation with NGOs, it has elaborated standards to provide advice to victims of racism and other ethnically motivated crimes. 49. On the question raised by Israel concerning the Ombudsman, Poland indicated that everybody in Poland can submit complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can for example make written recommendations to relevant organizations, and join or initiate any kind of judicial proceedings before the Polish Courts. The Ombudsman can also initiate and lodge a constitutional complaint before the Constitutional Tribunal.