Webinar: The Right of the Child to Access Justice and Effective Remedy

Webinar: The Right of the Child to Access Justice and Effective Remedy

Discussion with CRC Committee Members about Key Challenges and Regional Perspectives

Webinar on “The Right of the Child to Access Justice and Effective Remedy: Discussion with the CRC Committee Members about Key Challenges and Regional Perspectives” was held on 2 February 2026 in the context of the ongoing drafting process of General Comment No. 27 on children’s right of access to justice and effective remedies, ahead of its finalisation by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It provided a space for in-depth dialogue between Committee members Benoît Van Keirsbilck, Bragi Gudbranson, Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, Rosaria Correa Pulice, Thuwayba Al Barwani, together with Vanessa Sedletzki and participants on the key challenges, debates, and regional perspectives shaping children’s ability to seek justice in practice.

The webinar was organised by the University of Geneva’s Centre for Children’s Rights Studies, the Children’s Rights Academy, the Children’s Rights European Academic Network, and UNICEF and moderated by Roberta Ruggiero.
300 students, experts, practitioners, civil society actors, and other stakeholders took part in the discussion and had the opportunity to raise questions directly to the Committee members.

The overarching message emphasised increasing accountability, combating impunity, and recognising children as independent rights holders. Below is the key takeaways from the exchanges.

1. Access to justice as a prerequisite for the realisation of all children’s rights
2. From formal rights to children’s realities: persistent barriers preventing children from seeking justice
3. Effective remedies for children must go beyond punishment and deliver meaningful reparation
4. Children as contributors to General Comment No. 27
5. Context matters: how legal traditions, conflict, social norms, and digital realities shape access to justice
6. Structural exclusion of marginalised children from justice and remedies
7. What works: child-friendly, multidisciplinary practices
8. ecognising children’s autonomy while ensuring protection and accountability
9. Bridging the gap: the role of independent institutions, civil society, and education
10. From individual cases to systemic change: bringing justice closer to children

Please see the document below for more details.