Together asked our member Scottish Child Law Centre to provide a guest blog. Find out about “making access to justice a reality for all babies, children and young people in Scotland”.
On 25th June 2024 the Scottish Child Law Centre hosted a Round Table on babies’, children’s and young people’s access to justice. This event was organised as a result of concerning trends in our free legal advice enquiries, including children and families unable to find a legal aid solicitor or afford the fees of a private solicitor to access justice for rights breaches.
On 11th October 2024 we will be hosting an online event to share our findings from the Round Table, including the main issues surrounding access to justice and both short- and long-term solutions. Children’s Access to justice shouldn’t have a price tag event.
We have had a record-breaking couple of months in the number of enquiries we receive for free legal advice. The children and families who contact us have often exhausted every other avenue to access justice for a rights breach and are coming to us in crisis.
In the past week alone, we dealt with two young people who experienced serious rights breaches in housing and education respectively. In both of these cases, the young person and their families had exhausted every other route to remedy and coming to us was a last resort. We know that this is only the tip of the iceberg, and that there are many children experiencing rights breaches across sectors who do not contact us for advice.
Part of the reason for incorporating the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 into Scots law is so that babies, children and young people can better access justice when their rights have, or are at risk of, been breached. It is therefore deeply concerning that rights breaches continue to happen across sectors, especially to marginalised children and children experiencing poverty, and decision makers have still not taken drastic action to improve access to justice.
We all celebrated the coming into force of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, but the legislation must be backed up by policies and practices that ensure all babies, children and young people can access justice for rights breaches.
As we work towards making children’s rights a reality for all children, we must remember that access to justice is also at the heart of the UNCRC and is a key component of ensuring that children’s rights are protected and respected.
Ends
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