Raise awareness and improve the knowledge of the legal standards that protect and promote children’s rights in Europe are the aims of this reference handbook.
Children are full-fledged holders of rights. They are beneficiaries of all human and fundamental rights and subjects of special regulations, given their specific characteristics. This handbook aims to illustrate how European law and case law accommodate the specific interests and needs of children. It also illustrates the importance of parents and guardians or other legal representatives and makes reference, where appropriate, to where rights and responsibilities are most prominently vested in children’s carers.
This handbook is a point of reference on both European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) law related to these subjects, explaining how each issue is regulated under EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Social Charter (ESC) and other CoE instruments. The handbook is designed for non-specialist legal professionals, judges, public prosecutors, child protection authorities, and other practitioners and organisations responsible for ensuring the legal protection of the rights of the child. It explains key jurisprudence, summarising major rulings of both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
To order the handbook (paper version) or any other FRA publication, write to: i[email protected]
Contents
FOREWORD
ACRONYMS
HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK
1 INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN CHILDREN’S RIGHTS LAW: CONTEXT AND KEY PRINCIPLES
1.1. Core concepts
1.2. Background to European children’s rights law
1.3. European children’s rights law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
1.4. Role of the European courts in interpreting and enforcing European children’s rights
1.5. European Committee of Social Rights
2 BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
2.1. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
2.2. Parents’ rights and the freedom of religion of their children
2.3. Freedom of expression and information
2.4. Right to be heard
2.5. Right to freedom of assembly and association
3 EQUALITY AND NON‑DISCRIMINATION
3.1. European non‑discrimination law
3.2. Non‑discrimination based on race or ethnic origin
3.3. Non‑discrimination based on nationality and immigration status
3.4. Non‑discrimination based on age
3.5. Non‑discrimination based on other protected grounds
4 PERSONAL IDENTITY ISSUES
4.1. Birth registration and the right to a name
4.2. Right to personal identity
4.3. Establishing one’s origin: adoption
4.4. Identity theft
4.5. Right to citizenship
4.6. Identity of children belonging to national minorities
5 FAMILY LIFE
5.1. Right to respect for family life
5.2. Right of the child to be cared for by his/her parents
5.3. Right to maintain contact with both parents
5.4. Improper removal of children across borders — child abduction
6 ALTERNATIVE CARE TO FAMILY CARE AND ADOPTION
6.1. Alternative care: general principles
6.2. Placing children in alternative care
6.3. Adoption
7 CHILD PROTECTION AGAINST VIOLENCE AND EXPLOITATION
7.1. Violence at home, in schools or other settings
7.2. Child exploitation, pornography and grooming
7.3. High risk groups
7.4. Missing children
8 ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING
8.1. Approaches to economic, social and cultural rights
8.2. Right to education
8.3. Right to health
8.4. Right to housing
8.5. Right to an adequate standard of living and right to social security
9 MIGRATION AND ASYLUM
9.1. Entry and residence
9.2. Age assessment
9.3. Family reunification for separated children
9.4. Detention
9.5. Expulsion
9.6. Access to justice
10 CONSUMER AND PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION
10.1. Protection of children as consumers
10.2. Children and personal data protection
11 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS WITHIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND ALTERNATIVE (NON-JUDICIAL) PROCEEDINGS
11.1. Fair trial guarantees
11.2. Rights of young offenders in relation to detention
11.3. Protection of child victims and witnesses
FURTHER READING
CASE LAW
HOW TO FIND CASE LAW OF THE EUROPEAN COURTS
LEGAL INSTRUMENTS REFERENCED
UN legal instruments
CoE legal instruments
EU legal instruments
Raise awareness and improve the knowledge of the legal standards that protect and promote children’s rights in Europe are the aims of this reference handbook.
Children are full-fledged holders of rights. They are beneficiaries of all human and fundamental rights and subjects of special regulations, given their specific characteristics. This handbook aims to illustrate how European law and case law accommodate the specific interests and needs of children. It also illustrates the importance of parents and guardians or other legal representatives and makes reference, where appropriate, to where rights and responsibilities are most prominently vested in children’s carers.
This handbook is a point of reference on both European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) law related to these subjects, explaining how each issue is regulated under EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Social Charter (ESC) and other CoE instruments. The handbook is designed for non-specialist legal professionals, judges, public prosecutors, child protection authorities, and other practitioners and organisations responsible for ensuring the legal protection of the rights of the child. It explains key jurisprudence, summarising major rulings of both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
To order the handbook (paper version) or any other FRA publication, write to: i[email protected]
