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In the beginning
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The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) was established
in September 1997. This followed a considerable developmental
phase during which the Children’s Law Centre Interim
Steering Group undertook a needs analysis in respect
of the realisation of children’s rights and surveyed
a number of solutions to the delivery of services.
On foundation the Children’s Law Centre had to
be constituted as a registered charity and a company
limited by guarantee. A new constitution and memorandum
and articles of association were drafted and adopted.
This process was successfully completed and the Children’s
Law Centre was registered as a company limited by guarantee
in April 1998.
When first established the CLC sub-let one room from
the Lee Hestia Housing Association. As the organisation
was in it’s infancy the CLC very much appreciated
the support given by Lee Hestia and valued the period
during which the organisation facilitated the CLC by
providing a "breathing space" to allow the
organisation to acquire it’s own premises. The
acquisition of child friendly affordable premises with
full disabled access in a "neutral" environment
and with easy access to public transport proved more
difficult than had originally been anticipated. After
an extensive search the Children’s Law Centre moved
to it’s own, newly refurbished, and furnished premises
in York Street, Belfast in September 1998.
The actual physical establishment of the office took
a considerable amount of time. As well as the furnishing
and equipping of the office there was also an urgent
need to establish office systems including financial
and personnel systems.
In the first instance the Children’s Law Centre
invested a period of time engaging with the statutory,
voluntary and legal sector to assess services currently
being developed in respect of children’s rights
and determine unmet need in this arena. It became apparent
that there was a significant gap between need and provision,
the challenge therefore presented to the CLC was how
best to meet that need and then access resources to
do so.
In September 1997 the Children’s Law Centre employed
two staff, the Director and a Youth Rights Worker. There
are currently four full time members of staff and one
part time member. They are the Director, Paddy Kelly,
Youth Rights Worker, Therese McCaffrey, Research/Development
Worker, Teresa Geraghty, Legal Adviser, Tara Caul and
part time Administrator, Helen Rafferty. The Centre
also enjoys the support of a number of key volunteers.
To coincide with the CLC relocating to their own premises
the Centre was publicly launched. We were delighted
and privileged that Sandra Mason, Chair of the UN Committee
on the Rights of the Child, gave a significant endorsement
to the work of the Centre by travelling to Belfast to
officially launch the CLC. Ms Mason also took the opportunity
to undertake a three-day field visit on behalf of the
UN Committee. She visited and met with a wide range
of children and young people. These meetings, which
included meeting Traveller children and visiting Juvenile
Justice Centres, provided her with an insight into the
main rights issues facing children and young people
in Northern Ireland.
The Management of the Children’s Law Centre is
very broad based with representatives of the voluntary
and statutory sector and the legal profession currently
serving on the Committee. Under the new constitution
the Management Committee will be restructured. The new
Committee will be elected by the membership at the first
AGM of the CLC.
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LAUNCH
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| Inspired
by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
those committed to children’s rights in N.I. envisioned
a children’s rights centre dedicated to bringing
home and making a reality of the rights, which the UK
Government signed up to when it ratified the UNCRC. That
vision became a reality when the Children’s Law Centre
was launched in September 1998 by Sandra Mason, Chair
of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. |
At the launch of the CLC
left - right:Kellie White, Greg Kelly, Sandra Mason,
Paddy Kelly
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welcoming the establishment of the Children’s Law
Centre as an important step towards giving effect to the
UNCRC in this jurisdiction, Ms Mason spoke of the importance
of the UNCRC in moving children’s rights into mainstream
human rights.
Given that the UK Government
was due to submit it’s first periodical report
to the UN Committee in January 1999, Ms Mason’s
visit was also a timely reminder of the Committee’s
approach to the reporting mechanism and it’s concerns
in respect of the UK Government’s implementation
of the Convention here. The reporting process should
not, according to Ms Mason, be a bureaucratic exercise,
rather it should be viewed as an opportunity "to
encourage State parties to reaffirm their commitment,
to review existing legislation, programmes and policies
in the light of the Convention.."
At the CLC launch, which was
attended by a large cross section of those working in
the field of children’s rights, Ms Mason spoke
passionately of the discrimination suffered by Traveler
children in Northern Ireland, and Government’s
failure to act on previous recommendations of the Committee.
"I was in fact quite appalled
to find in Britain on the eve of the twenty first century
there are people living in such squalid conditions,
conditions one expects to find only in third world countries.
For some, clean drinking water and basic sanitation
are not available thus endangering the health of the
children living in these communities. There are no designated
play areas for children, as you would find for the rest
of the community. I understand the practice of segregation
in education exists. This is in blatant contravention
of Article 2, non discrimination and Article 29, the
aims of education, and consequently the attainment levels
are much lower for Traveler children than for other
children".
Ms Mason also took the opportunity
to voice concerns about the continued applicability
in Northern Ireland of emergency legislation with the
power to detain for up to seven days,
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as young as 10. She continued: "In conjunction with
this issue is the concern about the continued use of plastic
bullets which over the years have caused serious injuries
and deaths including of children".
Ms Mason concluded her address
to the launch of the Children’s Law Centre saying:
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Sandra Mason at
the launch of the CLC in September 1998
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"this
realisation (of children’s rights) fostered by a
mutual trust and respect, can only rebound to the benefit
of the child which will in turn add value to the country’s
human resources and ultimately contribute to the enhancement
of humanity as a whole."This is a vision shared by
the Children’s Law Centre and the strongest possible
argument for placing children’s rights centre stage
in building on the Good Friday Agreement to create a new,
just and equitable society.
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YOUNG
PEOPLE’S ADVISORY GROUP
The Children’s Law Centre is founded on the principles
as laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child including Article 12 which provides for a child’s
right to express an opinion, and to have that opinion
taken into account, in any matter or procedure affecting
the child. The CLC believes that we can only provide
an effective and appropriate service, which fully meets
the needs of children and young people if those to whom
it is targeted shape that service. To that end the Children’s
Law Centre has established a young people’s advisory
group. It is hoped that the Advisory group will play
a full role in the development and running of the Centre.
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Young Person’s
Advisory Group
Central to the work of the Children’s
Law Centre is the participation and involvement of young
people. In February 1999 we began working towards making
this a reality. The goal being, a young person’s
advisory group working in partnership with the Centre.
This group will play a key role in shaping and directing
the work of the Children’s Law Centre.
With the help of Patricia Magee,
a 2nd year Community Youth Work student, the period
from January to April 1999 was dedicated to offering
this opportunity to as many young people as possible
from all over N. Ireland. Fifty Youth and Community
groups were approached. In the main responses were very
enthusiastic and supportive of our proposal. We then
met and spoke with 15 groups of young people who are
very keen and willing to become involved in the work
of the Centre.
At the end of April 1999 the
Centre organised a young persons information evening
as a direct result of requests from young people to
find out more about the Centre and it’s work. This
was a very successful evening with young people travelling
from Derry, Omagh and Armagh. From this evening we now
have a core group of young people who will be the founding
members of the young person’s advisory group.
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The group hope to begin working
together from May 1999. In the first instance they will
work in partnership with Teresa Geraghty in compiling
the young persons summary of the Report to the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
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"Getting
to Know you" at the young persons information evening" |
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recruitment for the group is ongoing, and we hope to continue
to meet with young people from all over N. Ireland to
talk about the work of the Children’s Law Centre
and the opportunity for their involvement.
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LEGAL SERVICES
In addition to establishing, developing, managing and
fundraising for the Centre the Director had been providing
a skeleton advice service during the first year of the
CLC. We were therefore delighted that having secured
funding to appoint a Legal Adviser, Tara Caul, a qualified
solicitor, joined the CLC in September 1998. Her post
is full time for three years. Comic Relief fund her
salary and a joint committee of the four Health and
Social Services Boards are financially supporting the
project by funding the associated running costs.
Even in advance of Tara joining the staff and our actively
advertising the advice service, we had been receiving
an ever increasing number of advice calls from all over
Northern Ireland. Arguably the queries covered the entire
range of children’s rights issues including the
implementation of the Children’s Order, contact
issues, children looked after, children in need, youth
homelessness, education queries including special education
needs, access to health care, children who come in contact
with the criminal justice system, equality issues including
disability, race, age and gender, and bullying.
Similarly those who have been contacting the CLC through
our advice line come from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Parents are being referred to us by other agencies or
have located us in the telephone directory. Social services
are contacting the advice service increasingly and are
referring children and parents to us. Teachers and Education
Welfare Officers, members of the legal profession, other
advice agencies, journalists, human rights organisations
and academics have all been availing of the advice line.
From a zero start and despite only pro-actively advertising
our advice service since September 1998 the CLC is now
receiving between 15-20 advice calls per week.
The numbers of young people telephoning and calling
into the office is also on the increase. The experience
to date has further demonstrated the clear and urgent
need for a free phone advice line dedicated to children
and young people.
There currently does not exist in Northern Ireland
a central point where information on children’s
rights and the law as it relates to children is accessible.
Further there is little accessible information specific
to this jurisdiction in this area of law. The CLC is
currently in the process of producing accessible Northern
Ireland specific information in respect of the law relating
to children. For fact sheets see Submissions and fact
sheets.
The Centre has already built up a sizeable information
bank in respect of domestic and international law, as
it relates to children, which is open to use by members
and children. The Centre’s first rights information
poster for children is scheduled for publication in
May. The Centre is also accessing detailed information
on children’s rights and international law via
the Internet.
The Legal Adviser in conjunction with the Youth Rights
Worker, has developed and delivered training in respect
of domestic legislation relating to children. This covered
a range of areas of law including the Children (NI)
Order 1995, education and criminal justice legislation.
The training has been delivered to a range of audiences.
In addition the Centre is increasingly being asked to
address different seminars and conferences on the issue
of children’s rights. A training programme is currently
being developed which will focus on the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child, European Convention on Human
Rights (ECHR) and juvenile justice, domestic violence
and education legislation.
The Centre has been providing a children’s rights
perspective and legal analysis to policy development
including the drafting of children’s services plans
by the Health & Social Services Boards. The CLC
has also been providing comment on draft legislation
including emergency legislation and in respect of the
new Criminal Justice Children (NI) Order 1998 and the
associated rules.
Our Legal Adviser has formulated submissions on behalf
of the CLC to a number of review and commission bodies,
these are listed in Submissions and fact sheets. Copies
are available from the Children’s Law Centre. The
CLC also formed part of a children’s rights delegation,
which met with the Criminal Justice Review Body.
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TRAINING
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The culture of children’s rights is not well developed
in Northern Ireland. Further from initial networking
it became very clear to the CLC that there was limited
awareness of the existence and importance of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The UNCRC underpins the Children (NI) Order 1995. A
knowledge, therefore of the Convention is essential
to promote and engender an understanding of and respect
for children’s rights which underpins the Children
Order, and should underpin all work with children.
No statutory or voluntary organisation was delivering
training to children, young people, parents and those
who work with and for children in the concept of children’s
rights and the UNCRC. Such training was consequently
identified as an essential foundation on which to begin
to build a culture of children’s rights.
The training programme has developed significantly
in the last year. In the first instance training was
focused on the UNCRC and targeted at adults working
with children in the statutory, voluntary and community
sector. We have also responded to requests for training
from issue specific groups including homeless organisations,
ethnic minorities, prisoners and ex-prisoner groups
and juvenile justice centres. A series of workshops
were developed in partnership with the Crescent Arts
Centre looking at rights issues for children living
with disabilities. This training which employed a drama
technique called Forum Drama was provided to young people
at Fleming Fulton School.
In partnership with the One World Centre the CLC delivered
an awareness raising four week pilot programme on the
UNCRC and young people’s rights in four schools.
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Education and
Training
Education and training is a key
element of the work of the Children’s Law Centre.
Raisingawareness of children’s human rights generally,
and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) specifically, has been ongoing. We believe
human rights education and training are central to the
process of making a reality of children’s rights
and developing a positive culture of rights for young
people in Northern Ireland. Article 42 of the Convention
states that young people have the right to know their
rights. The Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly
recommended that training on the Convention be included
in any training programme for people who work with or
on behalf of children and young people.
Many people in Northern Ireland,
adults as well as children and young people, have never
heard of the Convention. Those that have know little
of what it says. Consequently the starting point in
the training and education programme is to raise awareness
and inform of the Convention’s main messages, principles
and provisions, and to begin to explore how it might
be used as a tool. The Convention has to be demystified
and made more accessible before people can look at how
they can use it as a tool to help make a reality of
the rights that are enshrined in it for children and
young people.
To date we have successfully
targeted a number of different groups for training,
and this has included young people in schools, children
with disabilities, people in the voluntary and community
sector who work with young people, as well as those
in the statutory sector. The delivery of this training
is ongoing and will expand in the coming year to include
the legal profession.
Thanks to the support of the
Coalition of Aid & Development Agencies in Northern
Ireland (CADA), the CLC has completed a pilot programme
in four schools throughout Northern Ireland. The programme
aimed to introduce the Convention to students. It enabled
them to begin to explore their own rights as young people
living in Northern Ireland and also, on a more global
level, begin to examine issues comparatively concerning
children’s human rights throughout the world. This
was also the first step in a process of working towards
the incorporation of children’s rights and the
UNCRC into the curriculum and onto the agenda of teacher
training colleges.
The Children’s Law Centre
also undertook a 10 week training programme in Fleming
Fulton School. Funding was received from the Crescent
Arts Centre for a drama worker to co-facilitate this
programme. The programme sought to empower young people
with disabilities to begin to explore their rights,
using the UNCRC as a context. There were many positive
outcomes from this programme and using drama as a technique/medium
to explore these issues provided the framework for discussions
on issues such as prejudice and discrimination. There
is a clear need for further work in this area.
Education, training and associated
information dissemination will continue to be a priority
for the CLC in this next year. Building on the foundation
that has already been laid, the CLC plans to develop
training with the legal profession, parents and young
children as well as producing training materials which
can be used as a resource.
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MONITORING AND RESEARCH
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The UK Government was due to submit it’s first periodical
report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child earlier this year but at the time
of writing had not as yet done so. It is likely that there
will be an oral hearing in respect of the report early
in 2000. As part of the process of compiling it’s
report the Department of Health in London, who have lead
responsibility in this matter, convened an advisory group
which had as part of its membership one NGO representative
from each of the four jurisdictions. The Director of the
Children’s Law Centre represents the NGO sector in
Northern Ireland on this advisory board. Save the Children
and the four Health & Social Services Boards funded
the CLC to carry out an independent monitoring and research
project in respect of Government’s implementation
of the UNCRC with special reference to how the concerns
raised by the Committee in their 1995 report have been
addressed. The project which, commenced in April 1998
has focused on the experiences of the voluntary and community
sector with particular emphasis on ensuring children’s
and young people’s voices are heard |
Warming up for group discussion - Ballinran Community
Group, Co Down |
Using art to make their point - Mourne Youth Zone, Kilkeel |
The research which was carried out throughout
Northern Ireland was as inclusive as possible and particularly
sought the participation of children and young people.
While the submission to the UN Committee will focus on
those areas highlighted by the Committee in its earlier
report it is also our intention to produce an additional,
more comprehensive report. This will effectively constitute
a reference book in respect of the state of the rights
of children in Northern Ireland at the end of the twentieth
century. |
| The report will serve as a reference point for delivery
of the Convention during the next five year reporting
phase of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It will highlight where Government has failed to deliver
under the Convention and indicate initiatives, which could
serve as methods of guaranteeing children’s rights.
It is anticipated that the reports, which will also include
an executive summary in a number of languages and a young
person’s summary report, will be launched in September
to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the adoption
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. |
Brainstorming important issues - Kids Own After Schools
Project, Cookstown
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Young people in
Northern Ireland have their say.
UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child - Monitoring Project
‘One thing I learned from
taking part in the research was how everyone has rights
and what they were and how they are related to my life
today’
(Carol, (not her real name) aged
14).
May 1998 saw the start of an
action research project, which aimed to examine how
the government is implementing the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The opinions and perspectives
of children and young people were gathered extensively
throughout Northern Ireland. Professionals and parents
also provided information in regard to how children’s
rights are being upheld, or not, as the case may be.
A total of 179 young people participated
in a questionnaire examining the levels of awareness
of the Convention. In addition to this young people
from 35 groups throughout Northern Ireland took part
in group discussions. These discussions explored various
aspects of the Convention such as education, health,
justice, disability, ethnicity, participation in decision
making, play, leisure, policing, safety and employment.
Appropriate methodology including
games, exercises and art, were used to elicit the information
from the young people who ranged in age from 8 to 22.
Particular effort was invested so that children and
young people from highly disadvantaged backgrounds who
are the most marginalised and, consequently whose rights
are most vulnerable, were enabled to participate.
Verbal submissions were gained
from 25 professionals (or teams of professionals) with
a further 7 organisations providing written submissions
and/or reports. 245 community and voluntary groups also
completed questionnaires regarding their knowledge of
the Convention.
In addition to this several advice
agencies in the jurisdiction agreed to undertake a monitoring
exercise in order to assess the extent and nature of
their calls with regard to the UNCRC. The actual number
of monitoring forms returned was disappointing but some
agencies were able to provide us with statistics compiled
from their own records.
A substantial amount of information
was generated. The report, which documents our findings
is currently being finalised. It is our intention to
formally launch the reports in September during a week
which will see international events celebrating the
10th Anniversary of the Convention. This formal launch
will be followed up with extensive dissemination workshops
for young people and adults throughout Northern Ireland.
We will also discuss how this work might be taken forward.
A distinctive feature of the
report is how young people’s own words are used
to illustrate a point, just like Carol’s. We look
forward to sharing their views and opinions with you
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CONFERENCES
AND SEMINARS
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The Children’s Law Centre has, since it’s foundation,
been actively promoting children’s rights through
a series of conferences and seminars on a range of issues.
Some of these have been organised jointly with a range
of statutory and voluntary organisations working in the
field of children’s rights. In doing so the CLC has
not only increased public awareness of the Centre’s
work but has particularly highlighted a number of key
rights issues which are currently of particular concern
to the CLC. |
Sandra Mason meets young people during her visit to
Belfast
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| In December 1997, to mark Human
Rights Day, in partnership with the Centre for International
and Comparative Human Rights Law, Queen’s University
Faculty of Law, the Children’s Law Centre organised
a seminar on the implication of incorporation of the European
Convention on Human Rights for the law as it relates to
children in this jurisdiction. To our knowledge this was
the first seminar of it’s kind in this jurisdiction
to focus on this important development for children rights.
It is our belief that the full implications of incorporation
for children’s law have not been fully digested yet.
The Children’s Law Centre will be organising a further
series of seminars and conferences on the implications
of incorporation over the next twelve months.
In March 1998, in partnership with South and East Belfast
Trust, the Centre co-hosted a conference focused on
children’s rights. Over 90 delegates drawn from
a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community organisations
attended the conference representing 30 different agencies
from across the four Health and Social Services Boards.
Family Court Judge, Mr Justice Malachy Higgins, was
the conference keynote speaker. In addition to presentations
from the Children’s Law Centre and First Key about
their work, the conference also heard presentations
on children’s rights in respect of education, health
and younger children and how children’s rights
are delivered in practice. The most challenging contribution
of the conference came from the Voice of Young People
in Care on the issue of genuine participation.
The Belfast Agreement has potentially far reaching
implications for children’s rights. In particular
the Independent Commission on Policing and the Criminal
Justice Review impacts significantly on the rights of
children who come in contact with the criminal justice
system. This area of children’s rights has not
commanded much scrutiny during our conflict and the
Children’s Law Centre has concerns in respect of
the protection of the rights of children in the criminal
justice system. The CLC is also concerned that recently
introduced criminal justice legislation does not comply
fully with international standards. Further under Article
12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child children’s
voices should be heard in decision making processes
which affect them. It was our assessment that children
were not being consulted in respect of ongoing discussions
on the proposed changes to policing and the criminal
justice system.
Consequently the Children’s Law Centre, in partnership
with the Committee on the Administration of Justice,
NIACRO and the Nucleus Centre, Derry organised a major
conference in the Europa Hotel in Belfast on the 9 February
1999. The conference "Inside Out" provided
a platform for children and young people to inform policy
makers, practitioners and politicians of the reality
of how the criminal justice system operates in respect
of children. Over 230 people attended the conference
including key politicians, policy makers and representatives
of the respective review bodies and commissions established
under the Belfast Agreement. The conference received
widespread media coverage. Most importantly young people’s
voices were heard loud and strong.
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"INSIDE OUT"
CHILDREN AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
This conference took place
on the 9 February 1999 and was co-organised by the Children’s
Law Centre, the Northern Ireland Association for the
Care and Resettlement of Offenders, Committee on the
Administration of Justice and the Nucleus, Derry. The
conference was timely in raising awareness of young
people’s experiences of various aspects of the
criminal justice system in Northern Ireland and opening
debate and dialogue on how we treat our children in
the criminal justice system given the recent implementation
of the Criminal Justice Children (NI) Order 1998 and
the ongoing Criminal Justice Review and Independent
Commission on Policing.
The aim of the conference was
to give children and young people a voice and, for the
first time in Northern Ireland, to provide them with
a platform and opportunity to participate in a discussion
of the system which many of them had experience of.
The conference’s target audience was policy makers,
politicians and practitioners.
Participation and involvement
of young people was key. The process of facilitating
participation began in May 1998 with an initial mail-out
to a large number of groups and organisations inviting
them and the young people they worked with to become
involved and help shape the conference. Information
meetings were held with a number of groups to help them
reflect upon and identify what issues they wished to
raise and to assist them in considering creative ways
of presenting those issues to our target audience. In
total 7 different groups and individuals participated
on the day and their presentations took the form of
personal testimonies, drama, video and poetry. The Rainbow
Factory, a young people’s drama group, represented
the experiences of children and young people who could
not take part, namely children in custody.
A residential was held in December
1998 with representatives from each of the groups. It
gave the young people a chance to get to know each other
better and to talk about the different issues each of
them and their groups wanted to bring to the day. The
residential helped the young people to prepare their
contributions for the conference.
After several dress rehearsals,
the day arrived. Most of the young people who were involved
had never done anything like this before and were very
nervous. They did a terrific job and made a huge impact.
There were three different panels
throughout the day, comprised of representatives from
the RUC, NIO, Probation Board, political parties, the
Independent Commission on Policing and the Criminal
Justice Review body. The day was chaired by BBC’s
Noel Thompson.
The smooth running of the day
was largely attributable to the behind the scenes work
of Vivian McConvey, Mairead Kelly, David O’Donnell
and Sam Fitzimmons.
Thanks are due to NIVT, Youthnet
and the Northern Health and Social Services Board for
funding the conference.
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INFORMATION
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The Children’s Law Centre has been developing a comprehensive
information bank on all aspects of children’s rights
in this jurisdiction. We are acutely aware that while
a range of organisations hold relevant data there is no
one agency which holds the breadth of information on the
range of issues relating to children and young people’s
rights. This resource will obviously take time to fully
develop but a significant start has already been made
to pulling together relevant information. The information
resources are available for use by members and children.
In addition we are clearly identifying gaps in the
existence of information specific to this jurisdiction.
The production of jurisdictional specific materials
is ongoing
( see Submissions and fact sheets).
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Children’s Law Centre’s first
information poster for young people
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