The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in the world. It commits all State parties (currently 196 States) to protect and promote the rights of all children. CRC was adopted in 1989 and entered into force in 1990. The UK ratified the CRC in December 1991.

Article 1 defines a child as “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. Article 2 prohibits discrimination, whilst Article 3 places the best interests of the child as the main consideration in all actions concerning children. These provisions underpin all of the Articles contained within the whole Convention.

There are currently 26 General Comments which clarify the scope and content of CRC’s provisions.

State parties are obliged to produce reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child - a body established by the Convention to monitor realisation of children's rights - which outline progress and legislative, judicial and policy measures taken to fulfil their obligations under the Convention. Each State is expected to submit a report initially two years after consenting to the Convention and then every five years thereafter.

UK Review

The UK was reviewed on its implementation of the CRC in May 2023, and the Concluding Observations of the UNCRC Committee were published in June 2023.

The Committee published the United Kingdom’s List of Issues Prior to Reporting in March 2021, and the UK government report (combined sixth and seventh reports) in response to this was published in June 2022.  The Scottish Government also published a position statement on embedding children’s rights in Scotland in November 2022.

Read more information on the reporting status and access to all relevant documentation including State reports, Civil society & NHRI submissions on the Committee’s webpage and the webpage for the most recent session.

NHRI Engagement

As the Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland has duties and powers to engage in this process, the Scottish Human Rights Commission takes care to avoid duplication of effort. 

For the most recent review, we elected to welcome and endorse the Report of the Children's Commissioners of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which highlights a detailed range of human rights concerns relevant to the Convention. 

We also submitted brief additional evidence on the implementation of the Convention in Scotland, drawing the Committee's attention to five key areas which fall within the responsibility of the Scottish Government and legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament:

  • The delay to the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and outstanding remedial action to bring into force the UN CRC (Scotland) Bill.
  • The treatment and exposure to the criminal justice system of young people, including the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
  • Limited availability of adequate and appropriate mental health support for children and young people.
  • The anticipated failure to meet statutory child poverty targets and the impacts of the rising cost of living for children, young people and their families.
  • Children and young people and the right to a healthy environment.

Civil Society Engagement

Civil society has the potential to engage with this treaty in a number of ways:

  1. Submitting written information to the Committee
  2. Submitting an alternative report
  3. Providing information for the list of issues
  4. Attending Sessions and Making Oral Submissions to the Committee

Domestic incorporation

On 16 March 2021, the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed legislation to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into the Law in Scotland. The Scottish Human Rights Commission strongly welcomed this.

This law is called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (“UNCRC Act”).

The UNCRC Act came into force on 16 July 2024. The UNCRC Act makes the rights of children part of the domestic law of Scotland and therefore directly enforceable in the Scottish courts. Incorporation therefore enhances accountability for human rights obligations, allowing people to hold duty bearers to account.

Section 6 of the UNCRC Act makes it unlawful for public authorities to act incompatibly with the UNCRC. This is known as the “compatibility duty”. However, the compatibility duty does not apply where the public authority is required, or entitled, to act incompatibly with the UNCRC by legislation of, or powers conferred by, the UK Parliament. This includes UK Parliament legislation in devolved areas such as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. This is due to the limits of the Scottish Parliament’s powers.

Sections 25 and 26 of the UNCRC Act also give courts the power in certain circumstances to either: ‘strike down’ legislation which is incompatible with the UNCRC; or to issue a declaration of incompatibility (in respect of legislation post-dating the commencement of the UNCRC Act).

The Commission now has the power to raise legal proceedings where we believe that a public authority has breached, or proposes to breach, its compatibility duty. The Commission also has the power to intervene in legal proceedings where a person has alleged that a public authority has breached its compatibility duty or that legislation is incompatible with the UNCRC requirements. This known as a “compatibility question” when raised in civil proceedings or a “compatibility issue” when raised in criminal proceedings.

Section 34 of the UNCRC Act requires the Commission to be notified of any legal proceedings which raise a compatibility question or compatibility issue so that we can decide whether to intervene. To notify the Commission about a compatibility question or compatibility issue, please email legal@scottishhumanrights.com.

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