Case law

Each year, the various Council of Europe institutions and committees publish many decisions, reports and judgments which have a significant impact on the development of children’s rights.

The decisions and reports of the most influential Council of Europe bodies are accessible through online databases. These bodies are:

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights rules on individual or state applications alleging violations of the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. All 47 Council of Europe member states have ratified the Convention and therefore have access to the Court. Children’s rights are often the subject of cases before the Court.

HUDOC case law database of the European Court of Human Rights
Theseus: children’s rights case law database

Theseus was set up under the supervision of the Court’s Research Division and contains the Court’s case law regarding children’s rights.

The Court’s Press Service has compiled factsheets on the Court’s case law relating to children’s rights.

European Social Charter

The European Committee on Social Rights monitors the conformity of member states’ national law and practice with the European Social Charter which complements the European Convention on Human Rights in the field of economic and social rights. Many of the Charter’s rights relate exclusively to children, such as Article 7 (the right of children and young people to protection) and Article 17 (the right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection). The collective complaint procedure allows certain organisations to submit complaints of violations of the Charter with the European Committee of Social Rights. The committee then issues decisions in respect of these complaints.

Case law database of the European Committee on Social Rights
Factsheet on children’s rights under the European Social Charter

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)

The CPT is a non-judicial preventive mechanism to protect persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other forms of ill-treatment. For this purpose the CPT conducts visits to detention centres in order to assess how persons deprived of their liberty are treated. During its visits the CPT also assesses the situation of children and dedicates specific attention to children’s rights in its reports.

HUDOC CPT database

The CPT database contains:

all CPT reports
public statements made by the CPT
the standards as set out in the CPT’s annual general reports

events

Back Kiko’s exciting adventures continue in the digital age

New Kiko and the Manymes video and storybook for young children are out!

The Council of Europe project to End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse@Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe) is happy to announce the launch of the new adventures of our beloved character friend Kiko who is now discovering screens and the misuse of pictures in the online environment in the video and storybook of Kiko and the Manymes. It also features Pipa, Kiko’s friend and confidant, the “magic whistle”, Skrin and the Manymes, who misuse Kiko’s pictures.

The objective of Kiko and the Manymes is twofold. Firstly, this campaign is addressed to adults, with a focus on parents and caregivers of children 4-7 years old, teaching them how to protect their children and avoid their exposure to phones with video and photo cameras or a webcam. Secondly, the experience of Kiko with screens in the book, which also present “the golden rules of screens”, provide a basic set of rules to empower children to protect their privacy and their image in the online environment.

These awareness-raising tools are currently available in English and will be translated shortly in French and Spanish as well as in the 10 languages of the EndOCSEA@Europe Project beneficiary countries, in order to reach a wide audience.

Why this initiative?

1 in 3 internet users worldwide is a child. Numbers are on the rise. While information and communication technologies bring many benefits to children, they also put children at risk, including very young children.

The age of users and potential victims of abuse continues to lower, with very young children being more exposed to harm. Children as young as 2 are using internet-enabled devices via gaming, entertainment and educational games and children of 5 to 7 years of age are using in-game messaging, voice and text chats.

Young children are particularly exposed to child sexual abuse and exploitation online with 28% of victims being below the age of 11. Nude and semi-nude pictures of children are regularly posted online by adults.

In some cases, very young children are groomed, deceived or extorted into producing and sharing a sexual image or video of themselves, sometimes in the child’s own room. This content may then be traded and exchanged, perpetuating a particularly pernicious form of child sexual exploitation and abuse which is on the rise. It is very difficult for victims to seek help and very challenging for law enforcement to identify the victims, prosecute the abusers and remove the content from the Internet.

Let’s keep children safe! Come and discover more about Kiko’s brand new adventure.

Acknowledgements:

The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for this programme by the End Violence Fund.

Kiko and the Manymes Video