How are children’s rights viewed in courtrooms around the world?
Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been around for more than two decades, it has in many places just begun to make its way into the courtroom. Many countries have taken steps to incorporate the CRC into their national laws and policies, and these accomplishments must not be overlooked. Nevertheless, CRIN believes that for children to enjoy the full benefits of their rights under the CRC, they must be able to enforce them directly in court.
CRC in Court - a children’s rights case law database
To encourage children and their advocates to think about bringing violations of the CRC to the justice system, we have assembled a collection of case law where courts have used the CRC in their decision-making process. The CRC has not always fared well in legal decisions, but we hope that reviewing CRC case law will prove to be inspirational and help us learn about the potential for (and limits of) advancing children's rights through litigation.
This database contains judgments from high-level national, regional and international courts around the world. Each decision is presented in summary form with plain English explanations of the background, significance, and CRIN's assessment of the decision's consistency with the CRC as we understand it. Case summaries also include excerpts from relevant judicial discussions of the CRC and, where possible, links to full text decisions.
You can search for these cases through our legal database.
How you can help
As this is an ongoing project, we add new cases to the database on a regular basis. If you are aware of any cases that should be included or have additional information on cases that have already been summarised, we would greatly appreciate your input. Our goal is to make this project as helpful to you and your work in children's rights as possible; please email [email protected] with suggestions on ways that we could add to or improve the database.
CRIN’s report on CRC case law around the world
Inside and outside the courtroom, the CRC has proved to be a uniquely powerful tool for advancing children’s rights. This report looks at how the CRC has been used in courts around the world. Exploring the potential for advancing children’s rights through legal advocacy, we hope that by reviewing case law on the CRC we will inspire lawyers and children’s rights advocates to use the CRC in judicial proceedings.
