Access to justice for children
What is the issue?
When we suffer a human rights violation we should all be able to challenge it and obtain redress, otherwise rights become nothing more than promises on paper. Access to justice is itself a human right, but it also makes other human rights a reality. The importance of access to justice is equal for children and adults, but children’s rights in this area have long been neglected and ignored.
What is the problem?
Children are prevented from accessing justice in many ways. Only half of the world’s countries have incorporated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into their legal systems, allowing children to enforce their rights directly. The rules governing how and by whom a complaint can be made commonly prevent children from bringing complaints or giving evidence themselves. Courts and complaint mechanisms frequently do not have the authority or capacity to enforce children’s rights, and children often lack access to the free legal advice and assistance that they need to effectively engage with the legal system.
What is the solution?
For every rights violation, there must be a remedy. Access to justice for children means that children, or their appropriate advocates where applicable, must be able to trust the legal system to uphold their rights. The legal system must provide children with the means to obtain a quick, effective and fair response to protect their rights; the means to prevent and solve disputes; mechanisms to challenge the abuse of power; and all of this must be available through a transparent, efficient, accountable and affordable process.
No country on earth perfectly protects children’s access to justice, but CRIN has documented the creative and effective ways that children can access justice around the world.
What is CRIN doing?
Children’s Access to Environmental Justice
Read more about this project here.
Related areas of focus
Sexual violence
Read more on this here.
Child sexual abuse in religious institutions in Latin America
Read more on this here.
Resources
More on: Access to justice and Access to information
Current research: Access to justice for children’s environmental rights
Webinar: An interactive discussion on children’s access to climate justice | Online side event to COP-26
Research report: Global report on access to justice for children
Report: Eutopian report
Ranking: World ranking on how well each country guarantees children’s access to justice
National reports: Legal research on children’s access to justice country by country
Interactive map: Visualise children’s access to justice in this world map
Data and methodology: Details about how we compiled and measured the research
United Nations: Review from the 2014 UN Annual Day on the Rights of the Child
Related content: Access to justice (Gallery), A-Z index rights issues