(Statement released at the European Seminar on Ending all Physical Punishment of Children, Barcelona, Sunday October 19, and at the European Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Barcelona, October 19 - 22)

The European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC) urges the governments of all European countries, the European Union, the Council of Europe and other European institutions and non-governmental organisations concerned with children to work collectively and individually towards ending all corporal punishment of children.

As spokespeople for the children of Europe, we believe that eliminating violent and humiliating forms of discipline is a vital strategy for improving children’s status as people, and reducing child abuse and all other forms of violence in European societies. This is a long overdue reform, with huge potential for improving the quality of lives and family relationships.

Hitting children is disrespectful and dangerous. Children deserve at least the same protection from violence that we as adults take for granted for ourselves.

While almost all European countries have eliminated corporal punishment from their schools and other institutions for children, it remains common and legally and socially accepted in the family home in most countries. Many States have laws which explicitly defend the rights of parents and other carers to use "reasonable" or "moderate" corporal punishment. Where the law is silent, corporal punishment tends to be accepted in practice.

In a growing minority of countries across Europe, all corporal punishment has been prohibited, often as part of a statement of parents’ responsibilities. The purpose of these reforms is not to prosecute more parents, but to send out a clear signal that hitting children is no more acceptable than hitting anyone else.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by all European states, requires legal, educational and other action to protect children from "all forms of physical or mental violence" while in the care of parents and others. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the international committee of experts responsible for monitoring implementation, has stated that no level of corporal punishment is compatible with the Convention and has formally recommended prohibition, coupled with education programmes, to eliminate it.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in a series of recommendations, has condemned corporal punishment and recommended legal reform (see in particular Recommendations R85/4; R90/2 and R93/2).

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ENOC urges all European Governments to appoint Ombudsman for children

The European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC) urges the Governments of all European States to establish independent institutions to promote and protect the human rights of children. ENOC welcomes the accelerating trend towards creating special institutions - children’s ombudsmen, commissioners for children’s rights and so on - to monitor and support the task of ensuring full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by every European state) and of creating child-friendly societies.

Establishing these institutions is a demonstration by governments of good will towards children that they take seriously their commitments under the Convention and are willing to be held accountable for their treatment of children by an independent office. It is a recognition that no government can be complacent about its treatment of children.

Offices have a variety of names - Children’s Ombudsman, Commissioner or Commission for Children’s rights, National Council for Children’s Rights, Defenders of Children, Child Advocates, Child Rights Delegates. They share the same basic aims:

The structure, size and activities of offices vary according to the situation of children in particular States.

To be effective advocates for children, ENOC believes these offices must be established through legislation with guarantees of independence and appropriate powers, linked to States’ obligations to children under the Convention.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the international body established by the Convention to monitor its implementation worldwide, has commended States which have set up independent human rights institutions for children, and urged others to do so. In its examination of reports from States it has placed particular emphasis on the need for independence.

The appointment of independent offices has also been strongly promoted by the Council of Europe, whose "European Strategy for Children" (1996) proposes the appointment of "a commissioner (ombudsman) for children or another structure offering guarantees of independence, and the responsibilities required to improve children’s lives, and accessible to the public through such means as local offices". The Strategy puts all its recommendations in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Recommendation 1286 on a European Strategy for Children, adopted by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, January 24 1996).

There are many reasons why children in particular need special institutions to protect their human rights: first, they have no vote and play no significant part in the political process; second, there are serious problems for children in using the legal system to assert their rights or seek remedies for breaches of their rights. Children’s developmental state makes them particularly vulnerable: they are more affected than adults by the conditions under which they live, and by the actions or inactions of government.

The development of institutions to promote the human rights of children fits into a key aim of the United Nations: the establishment of national institutions to promote and protect human rights generally. In some countries, special arrangements to promote children’s human rights have been developed within a national human rights institution.

ENOC believes that the special status of children demands either a separate independent institution or special arrangements within a national human rights institution, including:

- first, that the legislative framework for the national institution includes provisions setting out specific functions, rights and duties relating to children, linked to the Convention;

- second, that there is an identifiable "ombudsman" or representative for children (ideally someone who will bring status and public and political respect to the task, have a high public profile and so enhance the status and visibility of children); and

- thirdly, that this individual has appropriate staffing and a ring-fenced minimum budget.

ENOC was established in Trondheim, Norway in 1997. ENOC currently has member-offices in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain and Sweden. An office is currently being established in France, and discussions are underway in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Ireland.

One of ENOC’s agreed aims is to promote and support the establishment of independent offices for children in all European countries. It can offer advice and training. Detailed information on existing offices is available through ENOC. The current (1998/99) Chair of ENOC is Professor Per Schultz Jorgensen, Chair of the Danish Borneradet - National Council for Children. For further information, contact ENOC’s Secretariat, provided by UNICEF’s Office for Europe, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10.

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ENOC urges politicians to respect children's views

Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides an obligation on States to enable children (defined as everyone from birth to 18) to express their views freely, and to ensure that their views are given "due consideration", having regard to age and maturity. States must also ensure that children have a right to be heard in any judicial or administrative proceedings which affect them.

ENOC, the European Network of Children’s Ombudsmen, welcomes moves in many countries towards developing law, policy and practice which respects children’s views:

Promoting the principles of Article 12 and providing a channel for children’s views is a key role for children’s ombudsmen and similar independent offices established in a growing number of European States. The legislation establishing offices often requires them to listen to children. For example, the Danish National Council for Children is required to "advise authorities on matters relating to children’s conditions and include children’s points of view in its work". The Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Flemish Community of Belgium must "dialogue with children".

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the international monitoring body for the Convention, has emphasised that article 12 should be incorporated into national laws and procedures and that adults working with children should receive training which promotes the active participation of children.

Politicians can only gain by listening to children: ENOC urges governments of all European States to review their law, policy and practice to ensure consistent respect for the principle of Article 12. Governments themselves need to develop procedures for consulting children on all relevant policy development.

Respect for the views of the child

2. For this purpose, 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.

ENOC was established in Trondheim, Norway in 1997. One of its agreed aims is to promote and support the establishment of independent offices for children in all European countries. It can offer advice and training. Detailed information on existing offices is available through ENOC. For further information, contact ENOC’s Secretariat, provided by UNICEF’s Office for Europe, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10.

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Last edited by Barneombudet March 22, 2004
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