SOLVING STATELESSNESS negative stereotypes are not addressed in this section, these are also important strategies which might be pursued. 4.1 Litigation The courts are often a valuable tool in vindicating the equal rights of stateless people, including their right to a nationality. Since governments are often unwilling to engage with this issue, the courts are particularly important and there is much that can be done by lawyers adopting the equality framework in litigation. In addition to holding governments to account for their failure to uphold the rights of stateless people, courts can provide remedies to victims of discrimination. In some jurisdictions, the powers of courts are not insignificant. The Declaration of Principles on Equality requires that sanctions for breach of the right to equality be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (Principle 22). In numerous States, courts are able to award remedies not only to compensate the victim but also to address the systemic problem which may have contributed to the violation.°? It is important to note, before extolling the virtues of the court as a tool for solving statelessness, that individual access to justice for the vindication of rights is a critical component of the State’s obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to equality and non-discrimination of the individual. If, as is often the case, stateless people do not have recourse to the courts, either due to their own financial limitations, the lack of an adequate judicial system or even questions regarding their standing before the courts, it is clear that there will be difficulties in ensuring that this tool is available. In such situations lawyers might argue that unequal access to justice is itself a matter of unlawful discrimination against stateless people. The ICCPR obligation to protect equality before the law (Article 14) is an obligation to ensure access to justice for all people, including the stateless. 4,1,1, Using equality law to ensure socio-economic rights While international human rights law protects the rights of all people to enjoyment of socio-economic rights through the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, these rights have °° For a more in depth discussion see, Equal Rights Trust, Economic and Social Rights in the Courtroom, 2012, p. 94. 119