This Saturday marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the General Assembly. It sets out detailed minimum standards against which to test the treatment of the world's children. The convention, first proposed by Poland in 1978, was ratified by the UK in December 1991. It carries great international authority because ore than 190 countries have given it the seal of approval. This anniversary and the implementation next year of the Human Rights Act (giving effect to the rights guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights) provides a useful staging post from which to consider the controversial progress of the rights of the child
In the Sixties and Seventies more attention was focused on the idea of children’s rights: 1979, for instance, was the International Year of the Child. After ten years of negotiations the present UN convention was adopted. It is wide-ranging and broadly covers four areas: welfare rights, protection rights, social justice rights and rights to act independently.
In the Sixties and Seventies more attention was focused on the idea of children’s rights: 1979, for instance, was the International Year of the Child. After ten years of negotiations the present UN convention was adopted. It is wide-ranging and broadly covers four areas: welfare rights, protection rights, social justice rights and rights to act independently.
In the Sixties and Seventies more attention was focused on the idea of children’s rights: 1979, for instance, was the International Year of the Child. After ten years of negotiations the present UN convention was adopted. It is wide-ranging and broadly covers four areas: welfare rights, protection rights, social justice rights and rights to act independently.
The present Government has pledged itself to improve matters, particularly in the area of poverty. Many controversial areas remain. Indeed, a series of reports and decisions due to be published soon will provide a useful yardstick as to how many rights children have in reality.
In particular the North Wales report by Sir Ronald Waterhouse, dealing with abuse in children’s homes, will provide a searching insight into whether a child’s right to be protected from abuse and neglect can be met given a succession of governments’ unsuccessful efforts to produce real improvements. In addition a series of decisions from Strasbourg will focus on social services procedures in dealing with child protection and whether the child may seek redress in the courts when matters go wrong.
The European Court in Strasbourg will also rule next month on challenges brought by Robert Thompson and Hon Venables, the two boys convicted of the murder of James Bulger, to their trial in an adult criminal court. Again, this will bring into focus whether our criminal justice system deals fairly with young children and whether there is ay justification for our age of criminal responsibility being so our of line with most other countries.
Much progress has been made in recent years with defining and pursuing the rights of the child. The way we treat our children is surely an important test of whether we do live in a civilized society. The era of the child being seen and not heard (or not seen and not heard) may have disappeared.
The implementation of the Human Rights Act next year will concentrate minds further on the rights approach. IN the end it comes down to a balance in broad terms between the rights of the child, parents and the State. However, the child still needs especial protection.
* The author a QC, specializes in child law and human rights law.
這個星期六是聯合國大會採用「兒童權利公約」10 周年紀念日。這項公約的發表，細化了世界兒童最基本的待遇標準。這項協定首先是由波蘭在1978年所提議的，並在1991年12月被英國所批准。 多於190個國家的認同使此公約擁有強大的國際約束力。 此十周年慶典和下一年度既將實施的人權法案(在歐洲人權公約影響下起了擔保的作用) 為那些在兒童權利上有爭議的過程提供了一個有用的臨時停靠站①。
60 和70 年代，國際上②把大部份的注意力都集中在兒童權利上： 舉例說明，1979被定為國際兒童年。經過10 年的協商，現今聯合國終於將公約採用。它服務的範圍相當廣大，涵蓋了4 領域：福利權利，保護權利，社會裁決權利和自主性的權利。
主要條款包括在所有行動中有義務考慮兒童的利益、兒童表達意見的權利和權力賦予、資訊取得的權利以及任何形式的虐待、忽視、非人道或羞辱的處理。
依據公約的需求，政府於1994年向聯合國委員會提交一份有關兒童權益的初次報告。報告的一些內容受到強烈的關注③，例如兒童貧窮、負刑事責任的最低年齡、有關少年監獄的介紹以及公約條例的全國性實施與監督機制的缺失。最近的第二次報告書也受到相同的評論。
政府保證將改善現況，尤其是有關兒童貧窮的方面。許多具爭議性的課題仍然存在。的確，既將出爐的一系列報告書與決策將對兒童權益的現況提供有用的評價標準。
尤其是雷諾‧沃特豪斯公爵在北威爾斯報告書中指出，他將針對政府為達到顯著成效而實施一連串失敗的努力，處理受虐兒童的家庭是否提供兒童遭受虐待及忽視時權利是否能有達到保護功能提供徹底調查。另外史特拉斯堡(歐盟(EU)的首府)④一系列的決策將著重於兒童保護與當面臨麻煩時兒童能否尋求法律援助。
史特拉斯堡的歐洲法院下個月將會對被判殺害詹姆斯‧巴爾傑的兩名男孩，羅伯特‧湯普森(Robert Thompson)和喬恩‧維納布林斯(Hon Venables)在成人犯罪法庭內做出判決。我國刑事司法制度是否公平地對待兒童以及對於需負刑事責任年齡的界定是否與各國制度有較大差別的問題，將再一次引起關注。
近年來大部分的進展著重於兒童權利上的定義與追蹤探討。我們對待兒童的方式絕對是評判我們是否生活在文明社會的一項重要標準。兒童只能看但不該聽(或不該看也不該聽)的時代或許已逐漸消失了。
下年度將執行的人權法案，會有助於採納各方意見，在權利爭取的道路上更進一步。泛義而言，最終其將達到兒童、父母與政府間三方面權利的均衡。當然，兒童仍然需要受到額外的保護。
*作者為御用大律師④，專攻兒童法與人權法。
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