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The Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union has recently published a report which analyses the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children suspected or accused in criminal proceedings in nine Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Malta, Poland and Portugal.
Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ), has developed a series of reports to analyse the unprecedented implications of the COVID-19 health crisis on has had on all stages that make up the juvenile justice system in England and Wales. This initiative has been published over time, with the last of the documents appearing recently.
The International Juvenile Justice Observatory states its support for the prohibition of corporal punishment and for the great work that is being carried out by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, which is part of the Global Partnership and Fund for End Violence Against Children. A wide range of activities are carried out through this initiative, specifically designed to catalyse progress towards the universal prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment towards children.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights (FRA), the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights have published the second edition of the ‘Handbook on European law relating to the rights of the child’.
Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) of the Council of Europe took place in Rome, organised by the Council along with the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.
This new strategy lays out six primary objectives, one of which is “child-friendly justice for all children”. The strategy breaks down a series of key challenges and measures with respect to this objective, both to successfully implement the current standards and to foster new advances in child-friendly justice. Similarly, it also focuses on ways to facilitate the participation of children themselves in this process.
The launch event represented a valuable opportunity for numerous high-level representatives of EU Member States and of other international organisations to express their commitment to the Strategy, additionally introducing their respective visions with respect to the implementation of the rights of the child in the next six years.
Among the participants there were Ombudspersons, civil society representatives and international experts in this field, as well as young people from different member states of the Council of Europe who had contributed to the preparation of the Strategy.
In view of the escalating armed conflict in Ukraine, the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, and on Violence against Children, Dr Najat Maalla M’jid, released a Join Statement on 25th February reminding all parties involved in the conflict, whether operating inside Ukraine or in its vicinity, that the protection of civilians must be their first priority. As such, the 7.5 million children in Ukraine must be protected from the harms of conflict and the UN Officials emphasize that under no circumstances should children be recruited or used in armed conflict.
“As military operations are ongoing, all principles of international humanitarian and human rights law must be applied, including those on proportionality and discrimination in the targeting and carrying out of operations. We call on all parties to refrain from attacking civilian infrastructures, especially those impacting children – this includes schools and medical facilities as well as water and sanitation systems.”
“Negotiated peace must continue to be the objective over any military solution to the crisis for children to be spared from the horrors of armed…