Children Will Soon Be Able to Haul Their Parents Before a UN Tribunal

On June 9th, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations approved a new treaty that will operate in parallel with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Under this “Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure” children will be able to file a quasi-judicial complaint against their parents, their government, or anyone else alleged to have violated their rights under one of the three existing child’s rights treaties.

In addition to the main CRC, there are separate treaties regarding child soldiers and sex trafficking. These parallel treaties are also called “optional protocols.”

While the United States has not become a party to the main CRC, it became a party to the other two protocol treaties in 2002.

There are two remaining steps for this new Communications Protocol to become fully operative.