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UN Secretary-General Guidance Note: UN Approach to Justice for Children

This note provides the guiding principles and framework for UN justice for children activities at the national level.

This note provides the guiding principles and framework for UN justice for children activities at the national level that apply in all circumstances, including in conflict prevention, crisis, postcrisis, conflict, post-conflict and development contexts. It is framed within the UN mandate to support the realisation of human rights, poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals, and is a contribution to the UN coherence agenda in the rule of law area.

The goal of the justice for children approach is to ensure that children, defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as all persons under the age of eighteen, are better served and protected by justice systems, including the security and social welfare sectors. It specifically aims at ensuring full application of international norms and standards for all children who come into contact with justice and related systems as victims, witnesses and alleged offenders; or for other reasons where judicial, state administrative or non-state adjudicatory intervention is needed, for example regarding their care, custody or protection.

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2008

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted in 1989 to set out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted to succeed the 1924 Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the League of Nations. The UNCRC standardizes international law by determining the basic rights of children and parents, protection from abuses, parental responsibilities, and legal representation, among others. In addition, the Convention creates the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which monitors national compliance with the UNCRC. All United Nations Member States are party to the UNCRC excepting the United States which has signed but not ratified the Convention.

Notably, the UNCRC expressly forbids the use of capital punishment upon minors and by extension those who commit crimes while minors.

The treaty has one Amendment raising the membership of the CRC from 10 to 18 officers as well as three Optional Protocols:

  1. Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OP-AC)
  2. Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OP-SC)
  3. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure
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1989

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) was initially adopted in 1990 by the OAU, now the African Union (AU). The Charter sets a series of human rights agreements designed for the Pan-African social-legal context, as well as creating a board of experts to specifically address the implementation problems faced within AU member states.

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2018
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