Dr Rhian Croke, Children’s Rights Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales Child knife crime is a deeply concerning issue that demands a thoughtful, evidence-based approach. Recent official statistics indicate that, while media...
Changes to the British Citizenship Good Character Guidance: the impact of this policy on children
Siân Pearce - Postgrad Researcher & Immigration Lawyer This week there were some short, but very important changes to the Home Office guidance on how applications for British Citizenship are decided. These were brought to the public attention by the...
Reflections on children’s rights in Wales
Dr Rhian Croke, Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales Recent events and reports on children’s rights Recently, there has been reports and events that have helped us to reflect on where there has been progress and where there...
Children’s Rights and the Law Event Report
In September 2024, the Children’s Legal Centre Wales was honoured to host the Child Law Network UK in Wales for the first time. The Child Law Network was established in 2019 and is a group of 9 legal NGOs, from across the UK who share the same aim that all children...
Briefing Note: Asylum after the General Election – Where are we now?
Prior to the General Election there was a great deal of new policy regarding the way the UK dealt with Asylum Claims. The Illegal Migration Act received Royal Assent in July 2023, and a number of key sections were brought into force, in particular those which...
Awful Auntie By David Walliams – Stella’s rights against Aunt Alberta’s wrongs!
It is a cold day in December 1933 when twelve-year-old Stella Saxby wakes up in her bed at the family estate wrapped in head to toe in bandages. Her Aunt Alberta emerges from the dark shadows to inform her that she has been in a coma and both her parents have died in...
Understanding the General Election
On 4th July 2024, the UK Parliamentary election, also known as the general election, will take place. This is how the British public decides who they want to represent them in parliament. Let's break down what a general election is, why it's important, and how it all...
The Free School Meals Challenge in Wales: A Case for Optimism?
Simon Hoffman Background During the Covid pandemic the Welsh Government allocated funds to provide some (not all) children from low-income households in Wales with free school meals during the school holidays, or to provide their parents/carers with cash or vouchers...
BRIEFING NOTE: Children’s Asylum Claims and the IMA – where are we now?
This is a briefing note designed for use by professionals supporting children and young adults leaving care who are seeking asylum in their own right – particularly those who will have arrived in the UK on or after 7 March 2023. It does not constitute legal advice for...
Ending free school meals in the holidays in Wales: The relevance of children’s rights
Dr Rhian Croke, Children’s Rights Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales There is so much that could be said about the facts of this case (please see another blog by my colleague Prof Simon Hoffman) but in this blog, I am going to...
“We need governmental administrations at all levels embracing a bold vision, that translates children’s rights into reality”
Dr Rhian Croke, Children’s Rights Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales – Note of thanks to Professor Ann Skelton, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for delivering the Observatory on the Human Rights of...
Promoting a Children’s Rights Approach to child poverty in Wales
Dr Rhian Croke & Professor Simon Hoffman Poverty: A violation of children’s rights Amongst the many children’s rights issues, we focus on at the Children’s Legal Centre Wales and Observatory on Human Rights of Children, child poverty has been a key concern. As...
UN Committee on Rights of Child – UK Concluding Observations 2023
Dr Rhian Croke, Children’s Rights Strategic Litigation, Information and Policy Advocacy Lead Children’s Legal Centre Wales and Member of the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group Background to the UNCRC Reporting Process 6th / 7th Cycle of Reporting to the UN Committee...
Implementing the UNCRC in Wales: effective structures and mechanisms for children
Dr Rhian Croke, Child Rights Strategic Litigation and Policy Advocacy Lead, Children’s Legal Centre Wales and Member of Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group When a State, like the UK, signs and then ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), it takes on...
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...
Children’s Legal Centre Wales Response: Report by Children’s Commissioner for England on Strip Search of Children
We welcome the Children’s Commissioner for England report and are deeply concerned by its findings. We believe that the practice of strip-searching children must be stopped immediately. The report confirms that children across England and Wales have been searched by...
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
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
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...
Why does Wales have stronger laws on children’s rights than England?
This new book The Impact of Devolution in Wales: Social Democracy with a Welsh Stripe? co-edited by Professor Jane Williams and Dr Aled Eirug, which includes a chapter on children's rights, offers some insight into that question. The edited collection reflects on two...
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...
Proposal to reform the Human Rights Act 1998 will weaken children’s human rights
Human rights and children’s rights organisations across the UK have expressed their concerns to the UK Government’s proposals to replace the UK Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) [i] with a Bill of Rights. The new Bill of Rights was officially announced in the Queens...
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...
Equal Protection for Children in Wales: A Historic Milestone in Children’s Rights
21 March 2022 From today, children in Wales enjoy the same legal protection from corporal (physical) punishment as adults. The Children (Abolition of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act was passed by the Senedd in January 2020 after years of debate and campaigning. It...
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
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...
Reflections on children’s participation in decision making regarding schools during the Covid-19 Pandemic
In Europe and globally, children were the least likely group to be consulted on Covid-19 Emergency Measures International Education Day presents an opportunity to reflect on children’s participation in decision making regarding schools during the Covid-19 Pandemic....
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 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
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
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...
National Adoption Week 2021
National Adoption Week 2021 is taking place between the 18th and 22nd of October of this year. The week hopes to promote a better understanding of adoption through real life stories from many different points of view including adoptees themselves and adoptive parents...
More than just a meal: a holistic approach to poverty and children’s rights
Child poverty levels in Wales are rising. Poverty goes far beyond a lack of food, but one obvious sign it is growing worse is the increase in children who need help from the government and charities in order to access sufficient food to eat. Last year, the Trussell...
Government responses to Covid-19 have had a negative impact on children’s rights across Europe
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact, in Wales, the UK, in Europe and globally. Nearly 1.5 million people in Europe have died due to the Covid-19 virus, although research confirms that deaths of children are rare.[1] While children may not have experienced such...
Free school meals and the stigma surrounding it
Free school meals are available to eligible pupils in Wales who attend school full-time. If you receive free school meals, do you feel embarrassed or different to some of your friends? You are not alone if you feel this way. Here, we’ve set out what it’s like for...
Climate Change-related Displacement and Migration and Girls’ Right to Education
The impacts of climate change — including displacement and migration of people — pose multiple challenges to the rights of children.[1] Worldwide, there are 20 million internally displaced persons under age 15 — either because of conflicts and disasters, or both.[2]...
Free School Meals
Over the last year, free school meals have become a major talking point. From the campaign by Marcus Rashford in England to three major debates in the Senedd and many articles in print and online media, it seems as though a lot of people are discussing free school...
Children’s Rights and Sustainable Development
By Professor Jane Williams Wales has special laws on both sustainable development and children’s rights. How do these two important areas of policy fit together? On the face of it, they should reinforce each other. Children’s rights include being able to live...
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...
Smacking in Wales – why will the law soon be different to England?
Smacking in Wales will soon be banned (from 2022). You may have seen in the news earlier this year when this change in the law in Wales was announced. So why is the law going to be different in Wales and what difference will the change make to children? What does the...
Are you getting the school dinners you deserve?!
It’s International School Meals Day on 12th March. Whether its references to five, or even seven, a day, the amount of sugar in so-called healthy food, or the colour coded nutritional information on food we buy, there is definitely more of a focus on how healthy our...
Find your brave – Children’s Mental Health Week
It can be hard to find your brave when it feels like the world is against you – but you have a right to good mental health, and the law in Wales supports this. The classroom erupts into laughter, even the teacher can’t fully supress a grin. Your own smile evaporates....
Why is the law different in Wales?
The law is different in Wales. Not all of it, but in some important areas, the law in Wales is different to the law in England. In this blog, we look at why the law is different in Wales, and why it’s important to know this! Why IS the law different in Wales? In 1997,...
Count Me In! Young Carers
The school day is over and all of your friends are talking about their plans for the rest of the day. You can’t join in though. Like other Young Carers, you have to think about other things. While your friends are free to go out and play, you will busy looking after...
Breaking down Barriers to access in the community
Access in the community is not always straightforward… Picture this. You’ve decided you want to see some of your friends, you’ve worked out what you’re going to do, where you’re going to meet them and how you’re going to get there. You start to get excited, looking...
Walking to School in Wales
October is Walk to School Month, a global event to celebrate the benefits of walking to school and identifying the barriers that get in the way of more children being able to walk to school. In this blog we look at the law around ‘walking to school’ and see if there...
What’s new for school uniform in Wales?
School uniform in Wales has been in the news recently. The Welsh Government has introduced new guidance to schools planning on introducing a school uniform, or changing the school uniform that they already have. The guidance must be followed from 1 September 2019. So...
Air Pollution & the Right to Life
We’re delighted to publish this ‘guest blog’ by Lucie Boase, a paralegal working with Jocelyn Cockburn, a partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, who is instructed by Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, the mother of Ella Kissi-Debrah. Although these sad events happened in London, air...
Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015
“Let us be the ancestors our descendants will thank” Professor Owen, Director of Swansea Law Clinic and Professor of Legal Studies, recent lecture on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 provided an insightful introduction to the Act; in relation to...
New statutory guidance on school uniform in Wales
Whether you like it or hate it, if you go to school in Wales, you probably wear a school uniform. School uniform was in the news a lot last summer during the long heat wave. Some girls complained because their school uniform meant that they had to keep on wearing...