CLC News Updates from the Children’s Legal Centre Wales
What's in the News? Blogs on current issues faced by children in Wales and the wider world
Reading my Rights Blogs by Swansea University Students, using Children’s fiction to explore children’s rights in Wales
Careers/JFF Blogs about Children’s Rights Careers including that of our Justice First Fellow
Observatory Contributions from the Observatory on Human Rights of Children which provides a forum for research, debate, education and knowledge exchange on human rights of children and young people
Looked-after children not getting access to an Independent Visitor

Looked-after children not getting access to an Independent Visitor

Dr Rhian Croke, Child Rights Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales   The Issue It is a statutory requirement that ‘looked-after’ children should be allocated an ‘Independent Visitor’ where it appears to the local authority...

Strip Search of Children: A violation of children’s rights

Strip Search of Children: A violation of children’s rights

England and Wales: Strip search of children A BBC File on 4 investigation asked all 44 police forces in England and Wales for information about strip search of children.[i]  A total of 31 police forces responded to the BBC’s request, revealing that in the last 5...

Poverty and children’s rights

Poverty and children’s rights

Living in poverty undermines children’s rights guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). For example, it has a negative impact on children’s right to life and survival, and to develop to their maximum potential (Article 6 UNCRC), to an...

How the law in Wales has changed since the days of Hetty Feather

How the law in Wales has changed since the days of Hetty Feather

I can’t be the only one who loves anything Jacqueline Wilson writes and Hetty Feather has always held a place in my heart. Being one of Jacqueline Wilson’s most famous books, Hetty Feather follows the life of a girl who was abandoned by her mother at a foundling...

How can art break the law and get you into trouble?

How can art break the law and get you into trouble?

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett Jenn Bennett is an American author of novels for both teenagers and adults. One of her award-winning books, Night Owls, follows the adventures of two teenage artists, Bex and Jack. Bex is a student who aspires to become a medical...

A new Welsh Government plan for children: the devil is in the detail

A new Welsh Government plan for children: the devil is in the detail

Critical friends - driving change for children Wales since devolution has been pursuing an agenda that seeks to respect and promote the human rights of children as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC or Convention). Why is this...

Mental health and young people’s experience of food poverty in Wales

Mental health and young people’s experience of food poverty in Wales

On Children's Mental Health Week, we consider the relationship between children and young people’s experience of food poverty in Wales and mental health. All rights are connected and related to each other. How might your right to health, including mental health, be...

Memory, Dignity and Justice

Memory, Dignity and Justice

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau - as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day, every year, the UN urges every Member State to remember and honour the six million Jewish...

International Day of Education

International Day of Education

The United Nations General Assembly has declared the 24th of January as ‘International Day of Education’. The aim of this day is to commemorate the role education plays in peace and development. Articles 28 and 29 of the UNCRC provides every child with the right to an...

‘What’s wrong with children’s rights?’

‘What’s wrong with children’s rights?’

What a privilege it was to listen to Lady Hale deliver our Observatory on Human Rights of Children Annual Lecture (online, 10th November). In her 2013 inaugural Annual Lecture for the Observatory she asked the question: Who’s afraid of Children’s Rights? This year the...

Children’s Rights and the International Pandemic Treaty

Children’s Rights and the International Pandemic Treaty

On November 29th the World Health Assembly will meet to discuss an International Treaty on Pandemics. Drawing on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the treaty (which will be legally binding under international law) will support international efforts to...

We need a ‘Children’s Rights Approach’ to climate change

We need a ‘Children’s Rights Approach’ to climate change

Climate change is having a devastating impact on children’s rights. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child says that climate change is the ‘biggest threat to children’s health and exacerbates health disparities’ and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human...

The impact of COVID-19 on young carers and how to get help

The impact of COVID-19 on young carers and how to get help

The past year has been difficult for everyone due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, this time would have been particularly strenuous on those who are young carers. There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK, with approximately 30,000 carers in Wales...