Who is permitted to file a complaint?
The CRC complaints mechanism is available to children who believe that one or more of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or its substantive Optional Protocols have been violated. Children can file complaints either individually or together as a group, and can do this by themselves or with the help of a representative. There aren't any limits on who can help children write complaints, but children have to give their consent before someone else can file a complaint on their behalf.
If it isn't possible to get a child victim's consent, a complaint might still be accepted for review if the author can justify this and explain why it's in the best interests of the child to proceed. In these circumstances, the Committee may still request that the child victim be informed about the complaint and asked to give his or her opinion on the matter. In addition, where there are concerns as to whether a child victim's consent is genuine, the Committee may seek out further information to ensure that the child in question is not being improperly pressured or manipulated.
Against whom can complaints be filed?
Complaints can be filed against any national government that has ratified the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure. Complaints cannot be directed at specific government agencies or regional or municipal authorities, but it is often the case that national governments are responsible for all public actions that take place within their territory. A complainant must also be "within the jurisdiction" of a country to file a complaint against the national government. While victims don't have to be citizens, this usually means that they live in or are at least physically present in that country.
Who will know that a complaint has been filed?
Because complaints cannot be filed anonymously, the defending national government will always find out who the author and child victim or victims are. The CRC complaints mechanism does, however, guarantee confidentiality. While the Committee maintains a permanent record of every complaint it receives, its review process is conducted behind closed doors. Complaints found admissible are sent securely to the government concerned, and neither the Committee nor the government can publicly identify any person named or referenced in relation to the complaint without their explicit permission.
Even when the Committee's final views, decisions and recommendations are published, this is done without revealing authors' or victims' names. In addition, governments are obligated to protect the rights of authors, victims and anyone else who helps out with a complaint, and must try their hardest to make sure that no person is threatened or mistreated because of their involvement with the complaints mechanism. If it comes to the attention of the Committee that a country has failed to do this, the Committee can remind the government of its obligation and demand that the right to protection be respected. Where this happens, the Committee will continue to monitor the situation on the ground, and can make public statements or take other steps to hold the government accountable for its actions.
What are the requirements for filing a complaint?
Complaints are required to name at least one individual child victim, and must allege a violation of one or more of the rights contained in the Convention or its substantive Optional Protocols. Because governments are only obligated to respect the treaties that they have accepted as binding, potential violations are limited to rights set out in the conventions that a government has ratified. If a government has not ratified the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, for instance, a complaint against that government cannot talk about violations of rights described in that Optional Protocol.
The Committee will also require further details about the circumstances giving rise to the complaint. Communications must explain how the child victim or victims' rights were violated, and show why the defending national government is responsible. Complaints typically set out the facts on which they are based in the order in which they happened, and attach additional documents to support the complainant's story. Complaints that could be described as "manifestly ill founded" or "not sufficiently substantiated" are not accepted, which means that a complaint won't be reviewed if there is not enough information provided or if the events described don't seem to make sense.
Is legal aid or assistance available to complainants?
While the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides general guidance and support to complainants, it does not offer or fund legal assistance. Nonetheless, many child victims will already have had contact with lawyers by the time they consider approaching the Committee, and most complaints are filed with some kind of legal advice. There may be local, national, regional or international networks or organisations that offer assistance free or charge, and some national legal aid systems also pay for lawyers to work with international human rights mechanisms. For more information on obtaining legal assistance, our legal assistance toolkit gives an overview of how children and children's rights organisations can secure the advice or representation of a lawyer.