The law can be a very powerful tool for promoting human rights. But laws and legal systems can often be the cause of rights violations.
Children are uniquely vulnerable whenever and however they come into contact with the law. It is vital for open societies and the rule of law, that children grow up to trust and respect the law, its legal systems and professionals. For this to happen children’s due process rights must always be respected by everyone who works in the legal systems.
As a legal professional, you are the person best placed to guide a child through what can be a complex and frightening process, whether they are seeking out the law or the law requests them.
We want a world where governments and societies view and treat children as rights holders - not simply as the future in need of protection and charity, or merely an extension of their parents. We want to work with legal professionals to achieve this goal. Please email us for further information or advice, as well as to give us feedback on our work and how we can better help you protect and promote children’s rights.
Resources for you
We have a number of guides and toolkits for legal professionals, including how to create a justice system that’s child-friendly, advice on strategic litigation, other forms of legal advocacy, and how the CRC complaints mechanism works.
We have also produced a guide to applying a rights based approach to children for legal professionals. A rights based approach comes from the notion that children are rights holders, and that for real change to happen the focus must be on promoting and protecting their rights - not just treating them as objects of charity. The guide for legal professionals includes information on the CRC, as well as specific children’s rights that apply to the legal profession such as the right to the be heard, liberty and freedom from torture, and more. It is not designed to tell you how to do your job, but rather to give you the tools to understand how children’s rights fit into it.
Below are some more children’s rights resources tailored to legal professionals. We are developing more all the time, and updating and adding to existing resources. Please email us with your feedback on these, as well as suggestions for further resources we could look to produce.
- CRIN's CRC in Court Database
- Legal research guides. This is a series of publications which provide guidance on where to find legislation, case law and other information around the world. (for example)
- The law section of this website contains tonnes of information and resources.