Details

During the third meeting of the Thematic Dialogue Group on Transnational Procedures and Cooperation within the context of the Council of Europe Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine, the Permanent Bureau announced the publication of The Application of the 1996 Child Protection Convention to Unaccompanied and Separated Children — Update 2024.

The document deals with the application of the Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (1996 Child Protection Convention) in cross-border situations involving children who are unaccompanied, that is, children without parental care who “are not cared for by another relative or an adult who by law or custom is responsible for doing so”.¹ It also deals with the application of the 1996 Child Protection Convention to separated children, that is, children without parental care who “are separated from a previous legal or customary primary caregiver, but who may nevertheless be accompanied by another relative”.²

Originally published in 2022, The Application of the 1996 Child Protection Convention to Unaccompanied and Separated Children is intended to help legal practitioners, judges, and professionals (e.g., child welfare / protection officials and enforcement officers) with responsibilities in the protection of unaccompanied and separated children to better understand the 1996 Child Protection Convention, where it applies. In March 2024, CGAP mandated the holding of informal meetings with relevant experts to discuss and finalise updates to the documents presented by the Permanent Bureau earlier this year. The outcomes of these discussions are reflected in this updated version of the document.

The Permanent Bureau wishes to thank the Central Authorities under the 1996 Child Protection Convention for contributing, through their valuable comments and suggestions, to the further development and refinement of the document.

The Application of the 1996 Child Protection Convention to Unaccompanied and Separated Children — Update 2024 is now available for download in English and French, and will become available for download in Spanish in due course.

 

 

_{¹ United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, A/RES/64/142, 24 February 2010, para. 29(a)(i), available at https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/673583?ln=en&v=pdf (last consulted on 24 October 2024) (UNGA Alternative Care Guidelines).}

_{² Ibid., para. 29(a)(ii).}