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Summary: Because the convention has no complaints mechanism, the only way to protect children's rights is to build them into our legal system.
[LONDON, 19 November 2010] - Twenty-one years ago tomorrow, on 20 November 1989, the international community adopted the UN convention on the rights of the child. It rapidly became the most widely ratified international human rights treaty. Somalia and the United States are now the only countries not to have formally approved it. The international community, in drafting the convention and in embracing it so widely, declared itself committed to the principle that children have rights. Further, it confirmed that these rights are far-reaching. The convention includes civil and political rights, such as the rights to liberty and to freedom from torture, and economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to an adequate standard of living, to education, housing, and nutrition. On paper, it provides comprehensive protection for children from the core components of poverty. Yet deprivation remains a feature of the lives of too many children – including many in the UK, where a fifth of seven-year-olds live in severe poverty. One of the difficulties in ensuring such rights are protected is the lack of a mechanism by which children or their advocates can make complaints about violations. Earlier this year, the UN high commissioner for human rights brought together a group of experts to discuss the possibility of establishing a "communications procedure". This would allow individuals to take complaints to the UN's committee on the rights of the child. This would doubtless be a positive step and the UK government should support it. But there's another option that could bring the convention closer to home. And that's for it to be incorporated into domestic law. Leading organisations working on child rights in the UK argue that incorporation is key to making these rights a reality. Incorporation would allow courts to hear complaints about violations of the convention. This would be similar to the way in which the Human Rights Act incorporates the European convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Human Rights Act means that those who wish to challenge government failure to comply with the European convention can now have their case heard in the UK, rather than taking it to the European court in Strasbourg. The nature of childhood and children's rights is such that children and their advocates need the timely and more accessible route to justice that domestic incorporation could provide. The impact of incorporation would not be limited to the courtroom. Like the Human Rights Act it could provide for a mechanism by which government must ensure that proposed legislation is compatible with the convention. With such a mechanism in place, proposals such as the recently announced changes to legal aid provision could not be passed without scrutiny of their impact on children's rights. Incorporation could also make it unlawful for public authorities to act in a way that it is incompatible with the convention. Challenge in the courts, legislative scrutiny, and an obligation on public authorities could together develop a deeper understanding of what compliance with the convention looks like. Incorporation has the potential to build a culture of human rights for children. The convention is a powerful document that could help construct such a culture. It addresses complex issues not only of rights but also welfare, children's capacities and the role of adults. The convention acknowledges children's need for "special safeguards and care", but also that they have views that should be given "due weight". The "best interests of the child" lie at its heart. As does a conviction that all children are entitled to a standard of living "adequate for [their] physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development". The coalition government has stated that it will establish a commission to discuss a British bill of rights. The UK's international human rights obligations, including those that affect children, must feature in this discussion. The UK ratified the convention on the rights of the child in 1991. Through incorporating the convention, today's government can turn the commitment of 1991 into powerful and meaningful protection. Futher Information
Owner: Elizabeth Mottershawpdf: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/nov/19/incorporate-un-convention-righ...