UNCRC Committee finds violation of right to identity and right to health for the first time

Date: 30th July 2019
Category: Optional protocol on a communications procedure

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Individual complaints adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during its latest session (13 May 2019 - 31 May 2019) are now available online.

Individual complaints can only be made to the UNCRC Committee if their country has signed up to the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention. The UK Government has not ratified this Protocol. Two recent decisions from Spain show the potential of the Protocol to be an effective means of protecting children’s rights and signals the Committee building up further jurisprudence in this matter.

• Find out more about the protocols to the UNCRC here.

Adopted Decisions

Two decisions were adopted by the committee. These cases arose in Spain and related to the age assessment of unaccompanied child migrants. The Committee found a violation of Article 3 (best interest of the child), Article 12 (right to be heard) and Article 20(1) (special protection if deprived of family environment) of the UNCRC. Also, and for the first time ever, the Committee found a violation of Article 8 (right to identity) and Article 24 (right to health) of the UNCRC. 

Inadmissible Decisions

Three decisions were found to be inadmissible. These came from Spain and Finland. A further three cases from Switzerland were discontinued.

• Read the decisions in full here (scroll to the bottom of the page)