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Summary: The Rights of the Child UK coalition brings together a wide range of organisations and individuals in pushing for the full and direct incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law. In Why incorporate? Making rights a reality for every child, the coalition makes a compelling case for enshrining the rights of children into our law at a time when governments and others are looking for fresh approaches to protecting and promoting children’s well-being and development, and there is cross-party consensus on the importance of the CRC.
The Rights of the Child UK coalition believes the UK Government should directly incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into our domestic law to make rights a reality for every child and young person in the UK. What is incorporation? There is no doubt that now is an uncertain time for human rights, with conflicting messages from politicians about the future of the Human Rights Act and the viability of economic, social and cultural rights. However, the Rights of the Child UK coalition believes that we cannot afford to ignore the important part that the incorporation of children’s rights into UK law could play in seeking to address the huge inequalities in our society: inequalities that have a disproportionate impact on children and young people. Why isn’t the status quo sufficient? Although direct incorporation is not required by international law, it is a method of implementation favoured by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to give full legal effect to the binding commitment made by governments when they ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN Committee has repeatedly called on the UK Government to take this step. Children and young people have told the many member organisations of Rights of the Child UK coalition that they struggle to exercise their rights in many areas of their lives. Sadly, the extent to which many children are able to realise their rights is dependent, at least in part, on their circumstances – whether they are at home, in school, in care, or in custody; whether living in rural or urban settings; living above or below the poverty line. Children and young people want to change their lives for the better, and see both enforceable rights and decisionmakers taking children’s rights seriously as two of the necessary ingredients for achieving this. Making children’s rights directly enforceable in the UK has also been supported by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and the four Children’s Commissioners across the UK. Why incorporate? What’s next? These duties do not amount to the direct incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – they do not provide children with any new rights under domestic law, nor do they give children the right to seek help in the courts if their individual rights are violated. However, they are an important step forward in giving the Convention statutory force within the devolved nations. 16 December 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the UK’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children and young people have already waited far too long to have their rights fully realised. The Rights of the Child UK coalition now calls on the UK Government to demonstrate its commitment to children’s rights by giving statutory force and full effect to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in UK law. About Rights of the Child UK
The direct incorporation of the UN Convention on theRights of the Child would see all its principles and provisions brought into UK law through overarching, comprehensive children’s rights legislation. It would give real force to children’s rights and require both the UK Government and all public authorities to protect and respect children’s rights.
The approach taken by successive UK governments to put children’s rights into practice can be described as “sectoral”, the gradual examination of legislation in different areas in order to ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, this means that there is too often a focus on certain rights, certain settings and certain children to the exclusion of others, resulting in some rights being neglected and the obligation to consider children’s views only being recognised in some contexts. Incorporation would provide something far more rigorous and routine than currently happens across the UK as a whole.
• An overarching and comprehensive children’s rights law would allow sustainable improvements in children’s rights and bring about change for children far more quickly than the current piecemeal approach to reform.
• Incorporating the Convention would prompt the cultural change needed across the UK to ensure children’s rights are meaningful, respected, protected and implemented.
• Incorporating the Convention would require the systematic consideration of all children’s rights in every piece of legislation and policy affecting children.
• Incorporating the Convention would place a binding commitment on public agencies to protect children’s rights.
• Incorporating the Convention would provide a framework for local and national government in making decisions affecting children, and provide consistency and accountability in any further moves towards decentralisation and localism.
• Incorporating the Convention would make it applicable in UK courts, giving children greater access to justice and stronger protection for their rights and entitlements. It would also require judges to ensure cases affecting children in the UK courts are always and consistently interpreted in light of the principles and provisions of the Convention.
• Incorporating the Convention would help to raise awareness of children’s rights throughout society, and among all those working with or for children and young people.
• Incorporation has been successful in other countries and it could work in the UK, given the political will. While the models used in other countries are different, they provide a benchmark for the UK to work from and build upon.
2011 saw significant steps forward in children’s rights in Wales, where the Welsh Assembly voted unanimously in favour of the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure. This Measure places a duty on all Welsh Ministers to have due regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when exercising all of their functions. A similar duty will be introduced into the Scottish Parliament in 2012.
Rights of the Child UK is a coalition of NGOs and individuals across the UK that have joined together to campaign for the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. Members include children’s charities, lawyers, academics, children’s rights activists and politicians from all over the UK.