IPRT Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

15th August 2022

IPRT welcomed the opportunity to provide this submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to supplement Ireland’s fifth and sixth combined reports under Article 44 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

This is a thematic report pertaining to issues arising in child justice and children with a family member in prison in Ireland. In total, the submission makes 22 recommendations spread across these two areas.

Key issues explored in this submission (and their relevant paragraphs in the UNCRC) include:

• Age of criminal responsibility (paragraph 31(a))
• Adoption of new youth justice strategy (paragraph 31(b))
• Application of the child justice system to all children (paragraph 31(c))
• Promotion of alternative measures to custody and detention (paragraph 31(d))
• Detention conditions (paragraph 31(e))
• Rehabilitation and reintegration services for children leaving detention (paragraph 31(f))
• Measures to protect the rights of children in the context of COVID-19 (paragraph 1(b))
• The impact of the national policy framework for children and young people (paragraph 4(b))
• Data collection (paragraph 6)
• Non-discrimination (paragraph 10)
• Best interests and respect for the views of the child (paragraph 11; paragraph 13)

Read the submission in full here.