Judicial Authorities from the Western Balkans Region Convened Today and Tomorrow in Dubrovnik to Improve Protection for the Rights of Children
Dubrovnik, 22nd of March 2019
Civil Rights Defenders and the AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) organised the Sixth Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe. The topic of this year’s Forum is children’s rights, with the protection of children being an integral and essential part of the rule of law and 2019 marking 60 years since the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child.
“The best interests of the child is a key notion in the case law of the European Court of human Rights. It is used in a broad range of cases concerning not only family law (adoption, visiting rights, guardianship, international abduction of children, surrogacy motherhood) but also in relation to other issues like detention of children, retention of migrant children etc. The Court has developed a series of factors to be taken into account in order to better evaluate the best interests of the child on a case by case basis.”, stated The Vice President of the European Court of Human Rights, Judge Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos.
“We decided to organise the first Forum as a means to enhance dialogue, debate, as well as cooperation between judiciaries, legal professionals and civil society organisations across the region. By sharing best practise we hope to improve implementation of human rights standards across the region. The Sixth Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe will be dedicated to children’s rights. This topic, which has been emphasised as an issue of fundamental importance and relevance was chosen after consultations with judiciaries and relevant stakeholders throughout the region and in Strasbourg.”, explained Goran Miletic from Civil Rights Defenders.
Read the full press release for Rule of Law Forum 2019 here.
