E/CN.4/2003/8/Add.3 page 21 (c) Tackling the reforms needed to bring domestic legislation dealing with children, particularly with the protection of children’s freedom, into line with international standards for juvenile justice; (d) Improving the system of public defenders and court-appointed defence lawyers to make it more effective, providing it with adequate resources and investigative tools to put it on an equal footing with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and reviewing the system whereby court-appointed lawyers have to be replaced at each phase of the procedure in order to guarantee continuity in the defence throughout the proceedings; improving communications with defence lawyers to give them sufficient time to prepare a proper defence before the accused’s first statement to the judge and during the trial; and providing guarantees to ensure that detainees are treated with respect for their dignity and not kept behind a grille during hearings, so that hearings really are open to the public; (e) The Working Group believes it is appropriate to insist on the need to maintain a clear-cut distinction between military tasks and policing tasks in law-and-order functions; (f) The Government should consider undertaking a wide-ranging review of past cases of abuse in which persons were arbitrarily detained during social and other protests, including the cases on which the Working Group has rendered an opinion, such as those of Fernando Gatica Chino and Felícitas Padilla, who are still being detained and who have no judicial remedy open to them. Democratic openness in Mexico contributes to another kind of social participation, which should be encouraged. Moreover, as the forced disappearances committed by the military in the past constitute serious human rights violations, they should be dealt with by the ordinary civil courts; (g) As part of action to combat corruption, care should be taken to show exemplary respect for the accused’s right to due process so as not to undermine the credibility of the cause. The Working Group considers that, as acts of corruption by the military are offences under ordinary law, they should be tried in future by ordinary civil courts; (h) Monitoring procedures for public officials, particularly internal monitoring procedures, should be strengthened. -----