A/HRC/20/25/Add.1 51. Ensuring affordable access to competent legal representation is an essential element of improving access to the formal justice system, particularly by people living in poverty. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the recent progress on the Law on Access to Courts (2011), which stipulates broad legal aid coverage at all stages of criminal, civil and administrative matters, including the payment of related expenses. The Special Rapporteur commends the Government on facilitating broad participation of civil society organizations in the drafting process, which has produced a law that is a significant step towards ensuring access to justice for those living in poverty. 52. However, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the positive impact of the Law will be undermined by pre-existing legislation. The Law on the Juridical Regime Governing the Private Legal Profession and Lawyers Training (Law No. 11/2008 of 30 July 2008) requires that all legal practitioners in Timor-Leste successfully complete a 15-month fulltime training course at the Legal Training Centre and 9 months of practice by 2012. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that if the legislation remains in force, Timor-Leste will have a serious shortfall in its stock of qualified legal practitioners, having received information that by July 2012 no more than seven legal practitioners will have completed the course and will therefore be licensed to practice in Timor-Leste, alongside the 16 public defenders. There is already a severe shortage of trained lawyers and judges in the country, a factor which has exacerbated the lengthy backlog of cases and undermined confidence in the judiciary.57 Although it is important to put in place measures to improve the quality of legal services in Timor-Leste, this must be balanced against the urgent need to ensure that legal practitioners are sufficient in number to meet the needs of the population. Following her mission the Special Rapporteur was informed that an amendment to this legislation, extending the transitional regime allowing lawyers who have not yet completed the training course to practice for two more years, was introduced by the Ministry of Justice and submitted to Parliament. She calls on Parliament to favourably consider this amendment. 53. The Special Rapporteur also calls on the Government to improve access to justice for children and youth. There are no separate children’s courts or specially trained juvenile judges in Timor-Leste, nor legislative protection for children as victims, witnesses and alleged offenders. In the light of the State’s obligation under international human rights law to prioritize the best interests of the child in all such processes, this situation must be rectified with the passage of the draft Juvenile Justice Law and the draft Law on Special Criminal Procedures (for those between 16 and 21 years old), which have been under discussion for several years.58 The Special Rapporteur reminds the Government that the establishment of a family and children’s court, as proposed in the draft Juvenile Justice Law, must provide for the establishment and regulation of separate children’s detention centres and address the specific needs of girls and children with disabilities. B. Right to health 54. Over the past decade, Timor-Leste has made notable progress in increasing access to and improving the quality of basic health care services, the success of which is evidenced by dramatically improved health indicators: immunization coverage for children aged 12 to 23 months has nearly tripled from 18 per cent in 2003 to 53 per cent in 2009, 59 almost 80 per cent of children are treated for basic illnesses, and 86 per cent of mothers receive some degree of antenatal care. Timor-Leste has achieved Millennium Development Goal 4, on 57 58 59 World Bank, IEG, Timor-Leste Country Program, p. 77. Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice; see also Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/23. Demographic and Health Survey, pp. xxvi and 133 15