{"id":33881,"date":"2020-05-27T08:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T08:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?p=33881"},"modified":"2020-05-27T08:02:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T08:02:31","slug":"guidance-how-to-bring-a-case-before-the-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/guidance-how-to-bring-a-case-before-the-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidance: How to bring a case before the Committee on the Rights of the Child"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whatever problems your child may face, they have rights and those rights are protected at the international level by the Committee on the Rights of the Child<\/a>. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a body of experts tasked with overseeing the implementation of the international Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a> and its Optional Protocols.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee provides oversight to ensure that this convention and all your children\u2019s rights are properly protected in your country. This might however not be the case for certain rights and so your child\u2019s situation may need to be looked at more closely. This is why the Committee is also tasked with examining situations in which children\u2019s rights have not been respected on a case-by-case basis. The authority to carry out this task derives from a text called the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure<\/a> which allows the Committee to deal with complaints brought by individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By using this individual complaints mechanism you can protect the rights of your child by bringing a complaint before the Committee, known as a \u2018communication\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this guidance, Humanium<\/a> has set out the main steps for bringing proceedings before the Committee. If you are uncertain or if you have any questions after you have read this document, Humanium is here to answer your questions and to help and support you with your complaint through our Helpline<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Your country must have ratified the \u2018Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to check whether this is the case, please refer to the list of countries that have ratified the protocol using this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NB: <\/strong>Check that your country has ratified this Protocol and not just signed it. You can also find the Protocol ratification date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: The circumstances that led to the infringement of your child\u2019s rights (referred to as \u2018the facts\u2019) must have occurred after the Protocol ratification date (see the previous link)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The facts that led to the infringement of your child\u2019s rights must have occurred after date on which your country ratified the Protocol. How to check the ratification date is set out in step 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3: You must have already brought a complaint before the courts of your country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Under international law it is usually the case that in order to bring proceedings before an international court, a case must have first been brought before a national court to the point where no further appeal can be brought. In law this is known as \u2018prior exhaustion of domestic remedies’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infringement of your child\u2019s rights<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
\u21e9<\/td><\/tr>
Proceedings before domestic courts<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
\u21e9<\/td><\/tr>
The courts of your country haven\u2019t remedied the infringement of your child\u2019s rights<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr>
\u21e9<\/td><\/tr>
Individual complaint before the Committee on the Rights of the Child<\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NB:<\/strong> It is however possible to bring a case before the Committee on the Rights of the Child even if proceedings before the courts of your country haven\u2019t yet finished. This is possible when the proceedings have taken longer than a certain time, known as the \u2018reasonable time\u2019, i.e. the proceedings have taken too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally, your application to the Committee on the Rights of the Child may be admitted where the outcome of the proceedings does not allow for an effective remedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 4: Sending a communication to the Committee on the Rights of the Child<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before sending your application to the Committee on the Rights of the Child make sure that it meets the following requirements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint must be about an infringement of the international Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) or its two protocols<\/strong>: the Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict<\/a>; and the Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint cannot be anonymous;<\/strong> however, the Committee on the Rights of the Child will respect the confidentiality of your complaint, for example, if you don\u2019t want your name or your child\u2019s name to be mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint must be made at the latest one year after all available domestic remedies have been exhausted. The complaint can be brought either by your child or by a legal representative (such as a parent) or by a group of individuals.<\/strong> The complaint must be in writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 5: How to send the communication (details and postal address)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your communication must contain the following essential information in order to be properly considered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Information concerning the author(s) making the communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n