Right of Individual Application to UN Child Rights Committee

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Optional Protocol Concerning Application Procedure of Convention on Child Rights was published on the Official Gazette yesterday (April 3).

Attorney Seda Akço said this protocol grants the ones whose rights are violated right to apply to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

“It was different in the past. The committee was monitoring countries’ condition via national reports.

“Now, way for individual applications has been paved for.

“However, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is not a judicial authority, it doesn’t have a sanction power as the European Court of the Human Rights does. The committee now can pose questions about the incidents in which there might be a violation to the country, and then release a report.

“In this regard, it may not be effective in terms of compensation of individual damage, however, departing from an individual victimization, it will be effective with respect to public interest”.

Noting that individual conditions can be seen by the committee only if it entered the reports of state or NGOs, attorney Akço emphasized that this is not necessary anymore:

“If there are multiple applications about the same subject, for instance, when numerous children file complaints claiming that freedom of thought and faith are not taken into consideration, the committee may talk to state about this.

“In this respect, a more effective international monitoring can be achieved”. (YY/TK)