Research project PC/07 (Research action PC)
The UN Convention on the Rights of Children (1989) may well be the most universal expression of the increased attention paid to the legal protection of children. Although this Convention certainly retains traces of protective/patronizing law ("the interest of the child" remains, for instance, a pervasive principle), it also contains important beginnings of effective legal protection. Thus, the interest of the child is no longer defined by adults alone, but "the child who is capable of forming his or her own views has the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child; the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and the maturity of the child" (art. 12).
The first steps towards legally protecting the child-citizen seem to have already been made.
This research not only analyses in depth these first steps, but also studies extensively all the obstacles to effective legal protection of children and to explore the paths that might be followed in order to confront these obstacles.
Any (policy) proposals emerging from this research and from the study as a whole are related to legal protection in general.
