Here, you will find child-friendly versions of cases submitted by or on behalf of children and examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child under the Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure (OPIC). The Leiden Children's Rights Observatory remains committed to promoting access to justice by making the Committee's views and decisions more understandable and accessible to children. This is an ongoing project.
B.J. and P.J., siblings from Czechia, were sent to a children’s care center by a court because they weren’t going to school or getting mental health care. The court made this decision without considering the children’s views, so they complained to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
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C.R., a girl in Paraguay, couldn’t see her father who lived abroad. Even though a court said they should be able to meet, the visits didn’t happen. Her father brought the case to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, saying this harmed C.R.’s right to stay in contact with both parents.
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G.G.P., a boy from Paraguay, waited many years to be officially recognized by his father. Even though his mother went to court, the process took too long and nothing changed. Because of this, G.G.P. couldn’t have his full identity or receive support from his father. His mother sent a complaint on his behalf to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, saying the unfair delays harmed G.G.P.’s rights.
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S.K. is a girl who was born in 2017. She is Indian, but she was born in Denmark, where she lives with her mother. In 2019, her mother, H.K., told the Committee on the Rights of the Child about their case. She did this because the Danish government wanted to send both S.K. and her back to India. H.K. did not agree and explained why she and S.K. would not be safe there.
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D.C. is a 16-year-old who lives in a town called Perl, in Germany. He complained to the Committee because he was not allowed to vote (have a say) in choosing the next leader of Perl. D.C. believed that, at 16, he should be allowed to vote. However, the CRC Committee could not decide on his complaint because he had not used all the national options to solve his problem before bringing it to them.
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R.Y.S., a girl from Cameroon born in 2001, arrived alone in Spain in 2017 after suffering abuse in her home country. Spanish authorities carried out age tests and decided she was an adult, even though she had documents showing she was a child. Because of this, she was denied the special protection children should receive. She complained to the Committee on the Rights of the Child that Spain had not protected her rights as a child.
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Forty-nine French children were living in poor conditions in refugee camps in Syria. Their families were worried and wanted them to return to France so they could be safe. When the French government did not bring them back, the families, acting on behalf of the children, complained to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee found that the children’s rights were not being protected.
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