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Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Ambassador Daniela Cujbă,

Judge Bormann,

Dear Friends,

It is not easy to be a child in the 21^st century.

Young people live in the shadow of climate change and unchecked social media.

They face challenges from economic hardship to cyberbullying, and from discrimination to outright war and conflict.

These, alongside the usual trials and tribulations of growing up.

We all want children to have safe and secure homes, and to grow up with love and laughter.

But unfortunately, for too many children, broken homes, insecurity and instability are the norm.

A recent European Union report showed that 14 per cent of households with children have only one parent.

And across Europe, nearly half a million children live in residential care.

For those children who are removed from their families — sometimes of course, for very good reasons — and sent into residential care — the situation may be very difficult indeed.

And for some children in such situations, their voices have been silenced through processes that ignore their fundamental human rights.

But things are changing.

In September, the European Court of Human Rights held, for the first time, that national courts should examine of their own motion whether it would be appropriate to hear the children involved in court proceedings.

And surely, children should have a right to be heard at a pivotal moment in their lives.

Dear friends,

At the Council of Europe, we have long recognised the need to consider the best interests of the child.

In 2010, we introduced groundbreaking Guidelines on Child-Friendly Justice.

It was the first time a Europe-wide consultation had taken place to incorporate children’s views into guidelines.

Since then, many of our member states have made serious efforts to adjust their judicial system.

They have made great strides in accommodating young people caught up in criminal justice.

But for many children, their first encounter with formal judicial proceedings is in civil proceedings:

 — when their parents split up, or when circumstances mean they are extracted from their families.

There is no doubt that this can be the most difficult time in a child’s life.

And it happens while their parents are caught up in their own problems and needs.

And, so often, justice and regulatory systems have evolved to focus on the disputes of the parents, without acknowledging what is best for the child.

Or, as a child consulted during the drafting process for these recommendations, said:

“The court does not focus on the best interest of the child, but on the lesser of two evils.”

It means the very people who are affected the most — and who will carry the legacy of their trauma forward — are silenced.

The “Hear our Voices” conference in Dublin in 2022 was an important feature of the Irish presidency of the Committee of Ministers — a presidency that prominently featured children’s rights.

And delegates did not simply consider a child’s right to have some say in their future — they actually listened to the children.

There, in Dublin, children were asked what they thought.

Later, children were consulted in Italy, Hungary and Portugal, as the European Committee on Legal Co-operation and the Steering Committee on the Rights of the Child worked together to draft the two sets of recommendations we are launching today.

And so, the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers on the protection of the rights and best interests of the child in parental separation proceedings and care proceedings are actually informed by and benefit from the affected children themselves.

And what is key is that these recommendations place the child firmly at the centre of the proceedings.

And they provide guidance on how best to assess the interests of the child.

The recommendations also advise on how to keep young people informed — which is crucial during the upheaval of court processes — a time of great distress and confusion even for adults.

This way, children are listened to, heard and communicated with during the proceedings.

Of course, family break-ups will keep happening, and some children will have to be removed from their families.

But when governments and courts follow these recommendations, children will be able to participate in shaping their own futures.

Dear friends,

The recommendations launched today are certainly a welcome addition to the regulations and guidelines developed by the Council of Europe over the years that are aimed at protecting the best interests of children.

These include:

the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s rights;

the Convention on Contact concerning Children;

the Lanzarote Convention of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse;

And let me here mention that yesterday, on the European Day on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse – at the initiative of Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino and Slovenia – and supported and agreed by all the other 40 member States of the Council of Europe – issued a very important statement, also marking the 15th anniversary of the Lanzarote Convention.

It was on the need to end child exploitation and abuse – and in particular expand data collection practices beyond traditional crime statistics.

Another of the key instruments that we have is the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic abuse.

They are all key parts of a strategy to keep children safe — and to uphold the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Through these mechanisms, we work to ensure that children’s rights are respected, along with the rights of adults.

Dear friends,

Today I congratulate the European Committee on Legal Co-operation and the Steering Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the many who have worked on developing and drafting these recommendations.

They will no doubt be very helpful and provide essential guidance for authorities, courts and other relevant actors, in our member states.

Finally, I sincerely hope the many lawyers and all who are concerned with the safety and happiness of young people will read the recommendations and make use of them.

And think of the children, always.