United Nations Engagement and Scrutiny As a national human rights institution, the Commission has a role in engaging with United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms, including the UN Human Rights Council, treaty bodies and special procedures (such as special rapporteurs). This role is independent of the Australian Government and non-government organisations. In this reporting period, scheduled UN treaty appearances were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was no significant treaty body activity for the Commission. Progress on the third Universal Periodic Review is provided under Progress Indicator 1.13 above. Progress indicators 1.33 and 1.34 [PBS targets] Respectively: The majority of our applications to the courts for leave to appear are accepted; Instances of our court submissions reflected in the final judgment of the matter. Contribution of expertise on human rights to court process The Commission has the power to intervene, with the leave of the court, in proceedings that involve issues of race, sex, age and disability discrimination, human rights issues, and equal opportunity in employment. In this period, the Commission made 2 applications for leave to intervene, with both being granted by the courts. Judgment was handed down in 2 of the matters in which we intervened (one where leave was granted in the previous year and one from the current year). The case study below is an analysis developed from one of the judgments and provides an illustration of our submissions being reflected in the final judgment. 44 Australian Human Rights Commission Annual Report 2020–2021