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30 March 1995
Doc. 7270
REPORT giving an opinion on the draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights1
(Rapporteur: Mrs JAANI, Estonia, Group of the European People's Party)
Summary
Society's attitudes towards children have undergone major changes throughout this century. The international community has largely acknowledged that children are vulnerable and need special care and protection from parents and society. It was, however, only recently, that children were recognised as legal subjects and bearers of rights.
The draft convention submitted to the Assembly for an opinion, is based on the understanding that children should be respected as individuals and should be assigned a greater measure of autonomy in judicial proceedings affecting them. It grants children a certain minimum of procedural rights in some family proceedings and creates mechanisms for the promotion and the exercise of these rights.
The Assembly welcomes the draft convention and is convinced that it will contribute to strengthening the position of children in court. However, it is the view of the Assembly that some amendments to the draft text are necessary in order to make the convention more powerful.
I. Draft opinion
1. The Parliamentary Assembly has frequently dealt with the different aspects of children's welfare and children's rights and has adopted a number of texts on problems like child welfare and family policy as well as a European charter on the rights of the child.
2. The latest and most comprehensive Assembly text in this field is Recommendation 1121 (1990) on the rights of children. It was this recommendation that gave impetus to the Committee of Experts on Family Law (CJ-FA) in their work on a convention on the exercise of children's rights.
3. Recommendation 1121 (1990), drafted after the adoption of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, acknowledged the importance of this convention as the most complete international instrument on children's rights and called upon Council of Europe member states to ratify it.
4. However, the Assembly pointed out various gaps both in the substantive part and in the procedural mechanisms for the implementation of the United Nations Convention. Consequently, the Assembly suggested a multi-faceted plan of action based on a thorough analysis of past accomplishments, failures and ongoing work.
5. The Assembly addressed several concrete proposals to the Committee of Ministers:
i. it recommended, that the Committee of Ministers instruct the competent steering committees to draw up an appropriate legal instrument of the Council of Europe to complete the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and, in particular, to instruct the Steering Committee on Human Rights (CDDH) to consider the possibility of elaborating an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the rights of the child (section B of the recommendation);
ii. referring to the position of children in court, the Parliamentary Assembly voiced the view that children should be respected as individuals and should be granted a possibility to exercise an increasing number of rights independently, and even against opposing adults. To this end, the Assembly invited the Committee of Ministers to instruct the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), or another appropriate intergovernmental expert committee, to make a full study on the position of children in courts and on the acts a minor is entitled to accomplish before reaching the age of full legal capacity, with a view to arriving at a common European position (section D of the recommendation);
iii. furthermore the Assembly recommended that the Committee of Ministers convene a small group of highly competent independent experts to study how children may exercise the fundamental rights which have been granted to them by such international instruments as the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter (section E of the recommendation).
6. The draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights has been prepared by the Committee of Experts on Family Law (CJ-FA). It takes up only some of the Assembly proposals. It concentrates on the procedural rights of children in family proceedings affecting them and the promotion of the exercise of these rights.
7. The Assembly is convinced that the draft convention will strengthen the position of children in court and will promote the exercise of their procedural rights.
8. However, the Assembly is concerned that the convention leaves a broad margin of discretion to the contracting states regarding the choice of applicable provisions. Considering that the main purpose of this convention is to arrive at a common European position on the exercise of children's rights, the Assembly believes that a certain minimum of procedural children's rights should be accepted by all states signatories to the convention.
9. Consequently, the Assembly, recommends that the Committee of Ministers make the following amendments with a view to improving the convention:
i. Article 1 (Scope and object of the convention)
Change paragraph 4 as follows:
"Every state shall, at the time of signature or when depositing its instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe accept that the Convention shall apply to family proceedings concerning residence of and access to children and shall specify at least three additional types of proceedings before a judicial authority to which the Convention is to apply." (changes are given in italics)
ii. Article 11 (National bodies)
—In paragraph 2, sub-paragraph "d", replace "seek the views of" by "consult" —
—Ad d a new sub-paragraph "e" reading as follows:"e
"e. to intervene and, when necessary, take legal action on behalf of children."
iii. Article 15 (Establishment and functions of the Standing Committee)
Add before sub-paragraph "a" the following new sub-paragraph:
"request Parties to the Convention to produce reports at regular intervals on the application of the Convention;"
10. In addition, the Assembly suggests that the Committee of Ministers:
i. consider including a definition of the concept "having sufficient understanding" in Article 2 of the convention;
ii. consider elaborating a selection procedure for the members of the Standing Committee guaranteeing that this committee consist of highly competent and independent experts and that its procedures are transparent.
11. The Assembly further recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
i. invite member states and non-member states which have participated in the elaboration of the convention according to the procedure provided for in Article 20 to sign and ratify the convention;
ii. instruct the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) to continue its work on examining the possibility of elaborating an additional protocol to the European Convention of Human Rights concerning the rights of the child;
iii. instruct other relevant committees of the Council of Europe to continue their work in the field of children's rights.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mrs JAANI
Introduction
Promoting the rights of children has been a long-standing concern of the international community and of the Council of Europe in particular. Admittedly, the work in this field is delicate and demands a careful approach, because it, of necessity, affects the private sphere of family life. Unlike traditional legal rights disputes where the individual is confronted with other individuals or the government, the children's rights debate is complicated by the question of parental rights and responsibilities. The efforts of law-makers have, therefore, been concentrated on finding the proper balance between the rights and responsibilities of parents, on one side, the rights of children, on the other side, and the special obligation of the state to protect children.
The draft convention submitted to the Assembly for an opinion is no exception to this rule. Although the title of the convention somewhat boldly refers to "the exercise of children's rights", the document recognises the importance of the parental role in protecting and promoting the rights of the child and assigns substantial obligations to the state as to the protection and promotion of these rights.
The draft convention tries not to duplicate other universal or regional texts on children's rights. Since a number of important international instruments have extensively dealt with children's substantive rights — the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child being of primary importance in this regard — the draft convention focuses on children's procedural rights and on the exercise of these rights. In this, the draft instrument attempts to fill in the implementation gap in the international legal framework of children's rights.
In the first part of this report a brief summary of the convention's contents is given. Part two provides background information on some general aspects of the children's rights debate and gives account of the preceding work of the Council of Europe and of other international organisations in the field. Part three elaborates on some particular issues of the Convention deserving closer scrutiny. The proposed amendments are listed in the draft opinion to the Committee of Ministers.
A. General characteristics of the draft European Convention
on the exercise of children's rights
1. Scope and object of the convention
The draft convention does not deal with substantive children's rights. Since most of the Council of Europe member states are signatories to the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child,2 the aim had been to avoid restating the principles laid down in the United Nations document. Instead, the draft Convention endeavours to support and supplement the United Nations Convention and to contribute to its effective implementation.
The object of the draft convention, as stated in Article 1, paragraph 2, is "in the best interests of children, to promote their rights, grant them procedural rights and to facilitate the exercise of these rights by ensuring that children are, themselves, or through other persons or bodies, informed and allowed to participate in the proceedings before a judicial authority affecting them". Proceedings before a judicial authority affecting children are defined as family proceedings such as those involving the exercise of parental responsibilities, in particular residence of and access to children (Article 1, paragraph 3).
The convention is very flexible with regard to the conditions for ratification. Each state shall specify at least three family proceedings to which the convention shall apply at the time of signature or ratification. The draft explanatory report to the convention provides a non-exhaustive list of proceedings which may be specified by states to be family proceedings.
2. Procedural rights
The following main procedural rights are granted to children by the convention: the right to be informed and to express their views in proceedings (Article 3); the right to apply for the appointment of a special representative where the holders of parental responsibilities are precluded from representing the child as a result of a conflict of interest (Article 4).
States are also urged to consider granting additional procedural rights to children, like: the right to be assisted by an appropriate person of their choice in order to help them express their views; the right to apply, themselves or through other persons or bodies, for the appointment of a separate representative, in appropriate cases a lawyer; the right to appoint their own representative; the right to exercise some or all of the rights of parties to such proceedings (Article 5).
3. The role of judicial authorities
An important merit of the draft convention is that it endeavours to guarantee the practical realisation of children's procedural rights through creating corresponding obligations and powers for the judiciary. Several duties are placed on the judicial authorities: to ensure that children have sufficient information and to consult children unless this is manifestly contrary to their best interests (Article 6) as well as to act speedily in proceedings affecting the child (Article 7). The draft convention further authorises the judicial authority to act on its own motion where the welfare of a child is seriously in danger, this prerogative being, however, limited only to cases determined by internal law.
4. Implementation
To assure the effective implementation of the convention, the draft text proposes that a standing committee be set up. The committee shall consist of one or more representatives of each party to the convention, each party having one vote. It shall be empowered to keep the problems relating to the convention under review and to adopt recommendations.
B. Background
The draft convention cannot be regarded as an isolated instrument. It should rather be placed in the context of the ongoing debate on children's rights and should be evaluated in the light of past accomplishments in this field.
1. Concepts of children's rights
At first glance there is nothing to argue about on children's rights. Everyone would agree that children should enjoy a happy childhood, that they should be spared the hardships of poverty, social disaster and war. We would all wish that children were surrounded by care and affection.
However, under this surface of seeming unanimity a large spectrum of views on children's rights can be identified. Indeed, the international community has recognised that children do have rights. The problems start when it comes to defining the scope and the meaning of these rights. The differences are not only technical but are based on different philosophies on the rights of children. The conflicting views may be summarised under two main concepts on children's rights, that is the welfare and the autonomy approach. The welfare model points out the children's limited capacity for acting rationally and emphasises the need for intensified protection, both on behalf of parents and of society. In contrast, the autonomy approach argues that most children are as capable to make rational choices as adults and should be allowed to take part in the decision-making processes affecting them.
In fact, there is hardly anyone who would subscribe to an extreme version of either approach. The development of the children's rights discussion may rather be described as a search for reconciliation and balance between protection and autonomy.
The protective approach to children was the first to evolve and has always been less disputable. It is at the core of basic children-related legislation on both national and international level. It was on a second stage and with more caution that national and international decision-makers acknowledged the need for more autonomy for children. Since laws are tabled by adults, it had been difficult for them to voluntarily surrender part of their dominant position in the children-parents relationship.
Seen in this context, the draft convention attempts to assign a greater measure of autonomy to children in family proceedings affecting them, while taking into account the possible risks for children's welfare.
2. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
One cannot discuss the draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights without having examined the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child. This convention, adopted in 1989, is undoubtedly the most comprehensive international instrument on children's rights. Due to the large number of ratifications (more than 150 countries) it can be regarded as the basic achievement of the international community in this particular field.
Another reason to bring up the United Nations Convention is that in the preamble of the draft convention an explicit reference is made to Article 4 of the United Nations Convention, which requires States Parties to undertake appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognised in the said convention.
The United Nations Convention provides a long catalogue of children's rights. States Parties to the convention undertake to recognise such substantive children's rights like: the right to life; the right to name and nationality; the right to express their views in all matters affecting them; the right to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion; the right to freedom of association; the right to protection of privacy, etc.
Particularly important for the purposes of the present analysis is to look at the procedural rights conferred to children by the convention. Article 9, paragraph 2 refers to situations where the child's residence and living with his/her parents is concerned. In such proceedings the convention provides for a right of all interested parties to be given an opportunity to participate and make their views known.
More general is the provision of Article 12 of the convention according to which States Parties undertake to assure "to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child".
According to the second paragraph of this article "the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law".
3. Council of Europe activities in the field of children's rights
The draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights comes as a logical consequence and continuation of the multi-faceted activities of the Council of Europe in the field of children's rights and welfare. The existing instruments are numerous and have been adopted by various bodies of the Council of Europe.
a. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Considering that the child is a human being not having reached the age of majority, it is self-evident that certain rights and freedoms set forth in universal instruments on human rights are granted to children as well. The European Convention on Human Rights is the most important among these documents. The right to life, the right to respect for one's family life, the right to respect of one's privacy, etc. have been interpreted by the European Commission of Human Rights to extend to children as well. Regarding the access of children to the European Court of Human Rights the European Commission of Human Rights has accepted the right of children to introduce complaints independently and even against the will of their legal representatives.3
b. The European Social Charter
Particular rights of children in the sphere of social and labour relations are listed in the European Social Charter. Article 7 of the Social Charter fixes the minimum age of employment at 15 years (section 1) and provides for limited working hours for persons under the age of 16 (section 4). The Charter provides further for appropriate working conditions for minors, for regular medical control (Article 7, section 9), for arrangements that would make work compatible with education (Article 7, section 3), etc.
c. Other instruments
Besides the European Convention on Human Rights and the Social Charter, a number of other Council of Europe documents have been adopted relating to specific aspects of child protection. It suffices here to mention only a few of these documents:
—Re commendations of the Parliamentary AssemblyRe
Recommendation 1071 (1988) on child welfare; Recommendation 1074 (1988) on family policy; Recommendation 874 (1979) on a European Charter on the Rights of the Child. Following Assembly Order No. 491 (1993), the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly is in the course of preparing a draft recommendation on a European strategy for children, working in co-operation with Unicef.
—Re commendations and resolutions of the Committee of MinistersRe
Resolution (72) 29 on the lowering of the age of full legal capacity; Recommendation No. R (84) 4 on parental responsibilities; Recommendation No. R (87) 6 on foster families; Recommendation No. R (88) 16 on ratifying and improving the implementation of the conventions and agreements concluded within the Council of Europe in the field of private law, in particular the conventions which protect the interests of the child; Recommendation No. R (91) 9 on emergency measures in family matters.
—Co nventionsEu
European Convention on the Adoption of Children (1967); European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock (1975); European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children (1980).
—Pa rliamentary Assembly's Recommendation 1121 (1990) on the rights of childrenPa
Particular attention here should be devoted to Assembly Recommendation 1121 (1990) on the rights of children and the accompanying explanatory memorandum. This document was drafted after the adoption of the United Nations Convention and was based on a profound study of particular national legislations. Moreover, it was this recommendation that gave an important impetus to the work on the draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights.
In Recommendation 1121 (1990) the Parliamentary Assembly welcomed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children and called upon its member states to ratify the convention. However, the adoption of the United Nations' Convention was not seen as the end of the endeavours to improve the protection of the best interests of children. Being a universal document and aiming at binding as many states as possible by its provisions, the convention has been considered to reveal a number of deficiencies — resulting from a compromise. Lacunae, both in the substantive part and in the procedural mechanisms for implementation of the convention, were detected.
Therefore the Assembly invited the Committee of Ministers to examine the possibility of drawing up an appropriate legal instrument of the Council of Europe in order to complete the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was recommended, in particular, that the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) consider the possibility of elaborating an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the rights of the child (section B of the recommendation).
Referring to the position of children in courts, the Parliamentary Assembly voiced the view that children should be respected as individuals and should be granted a possibility to exercise certain rights independently, and even against the will of adults.
To this end, the Assembly invited the Committee of Ministers to instruct the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) to make a full study on the position of children in courts with a view to arriving at a common European position. The Assembly further recommended that the Committee of Ministers convene an expert group to study how children may exercise the fundamental rights which have been granted to them by such international instruments as the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter (sections D and E of the recommendation).
The draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights takes up some of these recommendations and comes as an immediate response to the Assembly's concerns. In this context the Assembly can but welcome the convention.
C. Some issues deserving closer attention
Although the Assembly supports the general principles laid down in the draft convention, there are still some issues deserving closer scrutiny and consideration. Judging from the title, the draft convention seems inspired by the belief that children of certain age are in many cases capable of rational judgement and should be, therefore, entitled to participate more actively in proceedings affecting them. At a closer look, however, it can be established that the convention confers only a limited number of rights in only some types of proceedings.
1. Procedural rights
As already mentioned in the first part of this report, according to the draft convention the parties shall explicitly undertake to confer to children the following procedural rights in some family proceedings concerning them: the right to be informed and express their views and the right to apply for the appointment of a special representative in cases of conflict of interests. Additionally, parties "shall consider granting" other procedural rights.
It might be necessary to note that the legislations of most member states already grant such rights to children in some family proceedings. In the process of drafting its Recommendation 1121 (1990), the Parliamentary Assembly conducted a study on the children legislation in force in different member states. It appeared that in many member states procedural rules exist guaranteeing that children's voices are heard in family proceedings. For instance the law of most member states grants to children of a certain age the possibility of giving their opinion in divorce proceedings of their parents.4 The same is valid for the role of the child when being placed in an institution or a foster family. In most countries children over 12 have the right to be heard in such proceedings. It is, therefore, doubtful whether the draft convention will introduce substantial improvement in the existing national rules for the exercise of children's rights in family proceedings.
At the same time, the convention does not discuss the very controversial but important issue of granting children a possibility to initiate themselves legal proceedings to assert certain rights independently of or even against the will of their parents. Admittedly, this is an extremely sensitive area, where the exercise of rights should be combined with satisfactory guarantees that the best interests of children are protected. Yet the complexity of the problem should not mean avoiding it.
2. Scope of application
The procedural rights granted by the convention can be exercised in proceedings before a judicial authority affecting children. In Article 2, however, the concept of "proceedings before a judicial authority affecting children" is narrowly defined. Only family proceedings such as those involving the exercise of parental responsibilities, residence and access to children in particular, are covered by the scope of the convention (Article 1, paragraph 3).
The convention further leaves it to the member states to specify those types of family proceedings affecting children (at least three) to which the convention shall apply.
A catalogue of proceedings, which may be specified by states to be family proceedings, is given in the explanatory report. It includes proceedings like: custody; residence; access to children; questions of parentage; legitimacy; adoption; legal guardianship; administration of property of children; care procedure; removal of parental responsibilities. Although the list of examples is said to be non-exhaustive the scope of the convention remains limited by the term "family proceedings".
The convention keeps silent with regard to possible procedural rights of children for exercising other fundamental substantive rights recognised by the United Nations Convention, like the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of religion, etc.
It would appear that the authors of the draft have been guided by the desire to attract the highest possible number of ratifications, believing that it is better to have a viable legal instrument limited in scope, than an ambitious document, remaining a dead letter. Besides, the convention provides for a number of opportunities for "autonomous" post-ratification developments. The parties are free to confer additional procedural rights to children and to broaden the scope of application of the convention. A flexible procedure for amendment of the convention is envisaged through the mediation of the Standing Committee. Thus, the convention relies on a gradual approach.
Although there is much common sense in this approach, it is still regrettable that the draft convention opts for the principle of the "lowest common denominator". In the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights it is essential that all Contracting States accept a certain minimum of procedural rights applicable to most important proceedings affecting children.
3. "Having sufficient understanding"
The procedural rights are assigned in many cases only to children "considered by internal law as having sufficient understanding". By leaving it to internal law to define when children have sufficient understanding, the convention opens a broad space for conflicting interpretations which may impede the effective implementation of the convention. Indeed, most member states' legislations do not contain precise definitions of this concept. It is often a task for the judiciary to decide on a case by case basis. Nevertheless, some guidelines for the interpretation of this concept should be given by the convention in order to assure its uniform implementation.
4. National bodies
In Article 11 the draft convention takes up an idea furthered by the Parliamentary Assembly in its Recommendation 1121 (1990). The Assembly recommended to the Committee of Ministers to invite member states to envisage the appointment of a special ombudsman for children, who could inform them on their rights, counsel them, intervene and, possibly, take legal action on their behalf (see section 12, e, ii of the recommendation).
The draft convention does not use the term "ombudsman", but speaks more generally of "national bodies for promotion and exercise of children's rights". The Parties are free to choose the appropriate type of structure, whether there should be one or more such bodies, whether they should be private or public, etc.
The draft convention applies some caution when specifying the functions of these bodies. The emphasis is on giving proposals and opinions on children-related legislation, providing information and seeking the views of children. It is disappointing that key functions like intervening and taking legal action on behalf of children are not envisaged.
5. Monitoring
The draft convention assigns significant authority to the Standing Committee (Chapter III of the convention). This committee shall consider questions of interpretation and implementation of the convention and may issue recommendations and propose amendments to the convention. It may be desirable to set forth explicitly an additional function of the committee, namely to request parties to produce national reports on the compliance of their legislation with the provisions of the convention.
Given the important role of the committee, higher requirements may be stipulated for the selection procedure of committee members. It is the view of the Assembly that the committee would be better equipped to perform its tasks if it consisted of independent experts. The procedure for election might be similar to the one for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.5
Conclusions
The Assembly may welcome the draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights and be satisfied that another important impulse to the promotion of children's rights will be given.
However, the convention might have been more ambitious. Most of the member states of the Council of Europe have ratified the United Nations Convention and have thus undertaken to comply with its Article 12. The draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights should go further than the United Nations Convention.
The draft convention takes a necessary precaution by asserting that the procedural rights be conferred only to children "having sufficient understanding", by assuring that the child is informed in a manner "appropriate to his or her understanding", etc. Thus, the convention introduces sufficient guarantees to the effect that the procedural rights of children would not be used to their detriment.
It seems therefore desirable to broaden the scope of the convention. At the very least parties could be obliged to apply the convention to proceedings of residence and access to children. Only in addition to this clear commitment may it be left to each state to choose other (three or more) types of proceedings before a judicial authority.
Furthermore, for the successful implementation of the convention it seems indispensable that the Standing Committee consist of independent exerts of high moral and professional standing. The committee could be explicitly authorised to ask parties to the convention to produce reports on its implementation.
With these and some other amendments, given in the draft opinion, the draft European Convention on the exercise of children's rights could be an even more powerful instrument for furthering the rights of children.
Reporting committee: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Reference to committee: Doc. 7197 and Reference No. 1989 of 30 January 1995.
Draft opinion adopted by the committee on 13 March 1995 with 27 votes in favour and 3 abstentions.
Members of the committee: Mrs Err (Chairperson), MM. Schwimmer, Jansson, (Vice-Chairpersons), Amaral, Arnalds, Bartumeu Cassany, Bentkowski, Berti, Bindig, Borg, Bučar, Candal, Columberg, Croze, Fogaš, Frunda, Fry (Alternate: Sir Dudley Smith), Fuhrmann, Galanos (Alternate: Christodoulides), Mrs Gelderblom-Lankhout, MM. Guenov, Hagĺrd, Mrs Holand, MM. Hunault, Inönü (Alternate: Kiliç), Mrs Jaani, MM. Jaskiernia, Kairys, Karas, Kastanidis (Alternate: Vrettos), Kempinaire, Kirca, Lord Kirkhill, MM. Koschyk, Loutfi, van der Maelen, Maginas, McDowell, Mészáros, Moeller, Németh, Poppe, Rathbone, Rhinow (Alternate: Gross), Robles Fraga (Alternate: López Henares), Rodeghiero, Salvi, Mrs Scopelliti, MM. Severin, Solé Tura, Mrs Soutendijk-van Appeldoorn, Mrs Theorin, MM. Trojan, Vinçon, Mrs Wohlwend.
N.B. The names of those members who took part in the vote are printed in italics.
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Plate, Ms Bakardjieva and Ms Kleinsorge.
2 1The following twenty-five member states of the Council of Europe have ratified the United Nations Convention: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. The Netherlands has accepted to ratify and the ratification procedure for Turkey is near completion. Andorra has neither signed nor ratified the convention (state of ratifications as at 3 March 1995).
3 1See report on the rights of children presented by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly, Rapporteur: Mrs Ekman, Doc. 6142, at p. 18.
4 1This applies for children over 10 years (Austria), over 12 years (Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Spain). Children should be asked about their opinion if it is evident that they cannot be harmed by being questioned.
5 1See Article 43, United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child.