Bill protecting children's rights clears 1st reading in Estonian parlt

TALLINN – The bill on Estonia’s accession to the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child passed first reading in the Riigikogu on Thursday.

The bill supports the promotion and protection of children’s rights in situations where the national legal remedies have been exhausted, Riigikogu spokespeople said.

Under the bill on the accession to the  optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, initiated by the government, Estonian children would acquire the right to submit complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child when their rights have been breached, and the committee would receive the right to proceed such complaints once Estonia accedes to the protocol. The committee will also be able to launch investigations into serious and systematic violations of children’s rights.

The protocol sets out the competences of the committee in case of communications procedures, as well as temporary protection measures. Complaints can be submitted by individuals or groups when the rights of a child as provided in the Convention on the Rights of the Child or its optional protocols have been violated, including the provisions on sale of children, child prostitution, or involving children in armed conflicts.

The implementation of the protocol will take place within the confines of the resources available to ministries and through the drafting of the necessary materials, the costs of which will be covered from the European Social Fund. Altogether 52 countries have already ratified the optional protocol.