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Summary: Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio speaks at launch of the European Forum on the Rights of the Child.
"As a human rights Organisation, the Council of Europe has been concerned with childrenās rights since its very foundation, in 1949. We are proud of our achievements but we are still very worried by the massive violations of childrenās rights and frustrated to see that progress to reduce them is so slow. We want to prevent child rights violations, we want to protect children and we want to empower them. And we do this not only and not just because children are our future, but mainly because children are our present. The subject of todayās Forum is the role of the justice system in the protection of the rights of the child, and I will use this opportunity to explain to you what is behind the green leaflet which you have found in your files today. Before I do this though, I would like to congratulate the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, and especially Commissioner Frattini and Minister Zypries, for this important initiative to reinforce the protection of the rights of children within the European Union. The starting point for our work at the Council of Europe is recognising the fact that children are not mini persons with mini rights. More justice for children means a world where childrenās rights are recognised and respected, or, as I would like to put it, āchildrenĀ“s rights make Europe growā. Council of Europe legal instruments, relevant to the rights of children start of course with the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter and revised Social Charter. Other more specific legal instruments include the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, the European Convention on Contact Concerning Children, the European Convention on the Exercise of Childrenās Rights, the Convention on Cybercrime, the European Convention on the Adoption of Children which is currently being revised, and the future Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. These instruments are at the core of our programme āBuilding a Europe for and with childrenā whose objectives are to promote childrenās rights and protect them from violence. Let me give you a few concrete examples. In the area of civil law, the Council of Europe is preparing a new Convention on adoption, which is expected to be adopted this autumn. The fact is that many provisions of the existing European Convention on the adoption of children which dates from 1967 are outdated and at odds with social and legal developments. The aim of the revised Convention is to harmonise the substantive law of the member states by setting minimum rules on adoption which go beyond those set 40 years ago, and give priority to the best interest of the child, which has not always been the case in the past. [ā¦] Today we are placing more emphasis on giving the child an opportunity to be heard in proceedings affecting him or her. In the revised Convention the consent of the child is now necessary if the child has sufficient understanding. In the area of criminal law, the Council of Europe is preparing a new convention for the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse. Allow me to spend a bit more time on this new convention, which should be adopted before summer, because it is expected to bring several new, far-reaching and effective measures to protect our children from sexual abuse. This will be the first international treaty to criminalise all sexual activities with a child, including the solicitation of children for sexual purposes, also known as āgroomingā. The Convention, once it enters into force, will also help to close some important loopholes in the fight against āsexual tourismā. In the case of the most serious offences, the principle of double criminality will no longer apply. Pedophiles must know that there will be no safe heavens for them. The new Convention will be instrumental to stop the demand of children for sexual exploitation and abuse purposes. To this end, it provides, for instance, that those who āknowingly attend pornographic performances involving the participation of childrenā must be punished. I am however shocked that some countries have asked for a reservation possibility to be made to this provision. I cannot possibly imagine that any country can allow such sort of behaviours. Yes, those who conscientiously, knowingly attend pornographic performances involving the participation of children must be punished. The draft Convention will [ā¦] also provide for child-friendly investigation and judicial procedures, minimising the risk of adding to the trauma of children victims of sexual abuse. Finally, the limitation period for criminal proceedings only begins to run from when the child victim reaches the age of majority. This should help to close another loophole which has often allowed the abusers to get away with their crimes. We hope to be able to open this Convention for signature during the 28th Conference of European Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe in Lanzarote in October this year, as children will be high on the agenda there. Of course in the criminal law area, children can be involved not only as victims, but also as perpetrators of criminal acts. In respect of the latter, we search guidance in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, which has very much evolved in recent years. The Court made some very important decisions in the cases of T. versus UK and of V. versus the UK. In 1993, at the age of ten; T and V abducted a two-year-old boy from a shopping centre, battered him to death and left him on a railway line to be run over. In its ruling of 16 December 1999, the European Court of Human Rights stated that it was essential that a child charged with an offence is dealt with in a manner which takes full account of his age, level of maturity and intellectual and emotional capacities, and that steps must be taken to promote his ability to understand and participate in the proceedings. In short, the ruling says that, regardless of whether children are authors or victims of crime, their rights should be respected, their status of children should be recognised and the procedures must be adapted accordingly. These judgments have had a very concrete impact in UKās Courtās procedures. As a result, the Lord Chief Justice issued a Practice Direction which deals with the criticism made by the Strasbourg Court in relation to the trial of Children and Young Persons in the Crown Court. I am confident that the case-law of the Court will also have an impact in other High Contracting Partiesā legal systems. As concerns our monitoring mechanisms, I have already mentioned the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, there are monitoring mechanisms in the framework of the European Social Charter, the Council of Europe Committees against Torture, and against Racism and Intolerance, the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and our Human Rights Commissioner which constantly monitor whether and how countries comply with their obligations, and contribute to childrenās rights protection. I should like to use this opportunity to encourage the European Union to take into account the existing Council of Europe legal instruments as well as accumulated expertise and experience, in designing its own policies, in particular those which have an impact on childrenās rights. Taking the work and the mechanisms of the Council of Europe into account when setting priorities for its own legal instruments could save the European Union a lot of work, help to avoid duplication and reinforce the protection of children rights throughout Europe. The EU can make an important contribution to the protection of the rights of children by encouraging its member states to ratify Council of Europe legal instruments, by reinforcing the existing legal instruments through the introduction of relevant EU legislation and finally, wherever appropriate, directly becoming itself a party to Council of Europe Conventions, including the European Convention on Human Rights. It is important to note that many of these legal instruments are not only open to the 47 Council of Europe member states, but also to non-European Countries, which greatly expands their geographical scope and consequently also their impact on the protection of children in Europe and throughout the world. The Council of Europe works closely with governments, the civil society, academia but also other international institutions such as the United Nations and the EU, and with professional networks, such as the European Network of Ombudsmen for children (ENOC). We are carrying out the follow-up at European level of the study on violence against children, commissioned by the UN Secretary General and published in October 2006. The UN Study was launched in Europe at the First 2007 Part-Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2007, during a whole debate devoted exclusively to children and their rights. There is an important momentum in favour of the rights of children in Europe today. Together we must seize this opportunity and mobilise available resources and existing and potential partners. We in the Council of Europe look forward to join forces with the European Union to reach our common objectives: a Europe which is safe for children and fair to children. A Europe which is build for children ā and built with them." More informationĀ Ā