“Do My Complaints Matter?" Child Participation and Child-friendliness of Complaint Mechanisms in European Independent Children's Rights Institutions

Authors

Agnes Lux PhDFollow

Keywords

children’s rights, ombudsman, complaint mechanisms, child-friendly procedures, child participation

Abstract

The protection of children’s rights is an obvious task of independent children’s rights institutions (ICRIs), though achieved through a variety of means. Based on the guiding principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in protecting these fundamental rights, including the right to be heard. ICRIs carefully examine children’s rights through investigation and research. But are rights-defenders upholding these principles in their own work? In this brief article I examine the requirements of being a child-friendly and participatory ICRI, and through a three-element comparison of European ombudsman institutions, I present some examples.

Recommended Citation

Lux, Agnes. 2020. "“Do My Complaints Matter?" Child Participation and Child-friendliness of Complaint Mechanisms in European Independent Children's Rights Institutions." Societies Without Borders 14 (1).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swb/vol14/iss1/7