A decision of the European Committee on Social Rights finding that the living conditions of migrant children in Greece violated their human rights, should herald a new approach to protecting the rights of children in migration, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) said today.
The Tajikistan judicial authorities should drop disciplinary proceedings against a judge, initiated immediately after he issued a rare acquittal in a criminal case, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today. Judges should be free to issue decisions based on law and their personal assessment of facts, the ICJ stressed.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), together with the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights (ABA CHR), the Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), and Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) are co-organizing a side event during the 47th UN HR Council session, on July 6th, at 15:00 CEST/ 9 am EST.
Turkey should reverse its withdrawal from the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the “Istanbul Convention”), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today.
The Polish government should immediately reinstate two judges removed from their posts in line with the newly released judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, said the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today.
Children should never be detained in immigration context. Immigration detention of children is never in their best interests and is not justifiable, said experts during a transnational workshop on Alternatives to detention vs. alternative forms of detention of migrant children held by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and partners on June 17 and 18.
“Instead of detaining children, case management should be used instead, and a community assistance and placement model should be used for families and children as an effective alternative to detention. Unaccompanied children should be placed within the mainstream care system,” Karolína Babická, legal adviser at the ICJ said.
During the workshop experts and practitioners from seven EU countries and international experts explored good and bad practices of alternatives to detention. In particular, the principle of the ‘best interests of the child’ was discussed as well as procedures for age assessment, and specific alternative arrangements for the care of children in migration, such as the return houses in Belgium, and regular reporting.
The group further explored ways to include unaccompanied migrant children in the mainstream child-care system rather than under the management of immigration authorities. The case-management and community placement model by the International Detention Coalition (IDC) was discussed in detail.
It was agreed that children must have access to procedural rights, including the right to be heard and to participate, access to information and to legal assistance and legal aid, access to interpretation, effective remedy and a guardian. Best interest of the child assessments as well as age assessment must be done through a rights-based approach, following child-friendly procedures and safeguards.
Any alternatives to detention applied by states should be monitored and regularly evaluated to ensure these do not constitute alternative forms of detention.
The workshop took place as part of the CADRE project and will be followed by second and third workshop as well as by on-line conferences and national trainings during the second year of duration of the project.
See the agenda here: Agenda CADRE Transnational workshop_17-18 June_final
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