New research from Child Rights International Network (CRIN) puts Luxembourg in 6th place worldwide on the ability of children to use the courts to defend their rights effectively.
Veronica Yates, CRIN director, said: "If the report highlights many examples of systems ill-suited to the protection of children, there are also many examples of effective use of the courts to advance the rights of the child. Our ranking exposes the degree of success of states in achieving children's access to justice, rather than the endorsement of their rights. It is difficult to deny that many countries whose record of human rights issues is lamentable are bottom of the rankings in terms of children's access to justice."
The report, entitled "Rights, Remedies and representation" takes into account the ability of children to bring a case to court when their rights are violated, the resources that the legal system provides them with the practical considerations to take legal action, and if international law is or is not applicable in the national courts.
"I hope that this study is only the beginning of a change that makes the access of children to justice a priority for the exercise of all other rights" said Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chairman of the UN Committee for the Rights of Children, in the foreword of the report.
The countries who ranked higher than Luxembourg were (from first to fifth): Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Finland and the Netherlands.
