From January 2025 to December 2026, FORUM, together with its partners, is implementing project “Be Seen, Be Heard – Empowering Child VOICEs in Legal Proceedings” (VOICE). This initiative aims to ensure active and meaningful participation of children in legal proceedings, aligning with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, and other international and EU legal standards. Despite these comprehensive frameworks, the actual realization of the right to be heard remains inconsistent across the European Union. To address this gap, the project focuses on promoting child-sensitive approaches, provide training, and advocate for systemic changes that ensure the effective realization of children’s right to be heard and participate meaningfully in judicial systems across the EU, particularly by targeting legal professionals and other stakeholders.
Objectives
- Enhance capacity among legal professionals on children’s rights, with a focus on children facing vulnerabilities.
- Facilitate the exchange of best practices and collaboration among practitioners in the five target EU countries.
- Raise awareness about the importance of a child-centric approach in legal proceedings and children’s right to be heard and participate.
Project Beneficiaries
- Primary beneficiaries: justice professionals, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, social workers, probation officers, and national authorities.
- Ultimate beneficiaries: children, particularly those in vulnerable situations, such as:
- Children in alternative care
- Refugee and migrant children
- Children with disabilities
- Children experiencing poverty and social exclusion
Main Activities
- Kick-off Meetings: Two online meetings to establish project management strategies and coordination.
- Project Management Group (PMG) Meetings: Regular online meetings to monitor progress, address challenges, and ensure coordination.
- Baseline Study: Methodology development and analysis to identify existing gaps in children’s participation rights.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Implementation of a tailored Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) plan.
- Close-out Meeting: A final online meeting to evaluate project outcomes, discuss challenges, and explore future opportunities.
Project Events
1. Transnational Exchange Workshop on Child-friendly justice and Procedural rights 🗓️ 13–14 May 2025 | Brussels
On 13–14 May 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) held a workshop on child-friendly justice and procedural rights. Experts and practitioners from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta, Austria and the Netherlands focused on how international and EU legal frameworks protect the best interests of the child and the child’s right to be heard in legal proceedings and how these rights are implemented in practice.
Over two days, participants explored models of child representation and procedural safeguards that ensure children’s views are genuinely considered in decisions concerning children’s rights.
“Children can express themselves in many different ways, and it is crucial that we talk to them and to explain things to them, even when they are very young,”
said Martine Comte, ICJ Commissioner, former Judge.
Participants identified as a critical issue that children’s views are often only superficially considered – especially when the child is perceived as “difficult” or “problematic.” They stressed that hearing a child must not be a mere formality, but must serve as a meaningful process that genuinely influences the outcome. Promising practices included child-friendly judgments and family group conferencing. As some participants noted, seemingly minor elements – such as a child’s attachment to a pet or regular contact with friends – may carry deep emotional weight for children and can be central to the child’s sense of stability and well-being, for instance when taken away from the family.
Discussions also centred around the dual role of child protection authorities and the lack of independence in children’s representation. Participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia shared concerns that the same authority both initiates the proceedings and represents the child, raising questions about impartiality.
“The role of the representative of the child in legal proceedings is crucial for the child’s access to justice,”
said Karolína Babická, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser.
“It is not the role of the representative to assess the child’s best interests, but rather to ensure the child’s right to be heard. Lack of clarity regarding the role of a representative of a child in proceedings may lead to a violation of their fair trial rights,”
Karolína Babická added.
The workshop, bringing together a wide range of professionals from various fields, succeeded in bridging civil, administrative, and criminal law and contributed to a more integrated approach to child-centred legal proceedings.
2. Webinar on the crucial role of the representative and the child’s right to be heard in legal proceedings 🗓️ 18 June 2025 | Online
On 18 June 2025, a follow-up webinar on the crucial role of the child’s representative and the child’s right to be heard in legal proceedings took place, offering an opportunity for continued exchange. The event brought together leading experts from across Europe to discuss how international and EU legal frameworks ensure the best interests of the child.
Among the main speakers was Anna Sležková, our lawyer, who presented the significance of the case B.J. and P.J. v. Czech Republic under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the child’s right to be heard under EU law. Other speakers included Nuala Mole, senior lawyer and founder of The AIRE Centre, and Laura Stelzer, legal and policy officer at DG JUST European Commission.
The webinar provided participants with a deeper understanding of how EU legal frameworks and international law protect children’s rights in legal proceedings and what challenges still persist in practice. Specific case law examples and recommendations for improving practice in Member States were discussed.
3. Transnational Exchange Workshop on procedural rights of migrant and refugee children in legal proceedings 🗓️ 16-17 September 2025 | Brussels
On 16-17 September 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) hosted a transnational workshop in Brussels on procedural rights of migrant and refugee children in legal proceedings. The event brought together lawyers, judges, and national authorities from Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Malta, and Slovakia.
“Even where national courts are reluctant to refer to international law and case-law, lawyers should actively invoke the interpretations of UN Treaty Bodies in domestic litigation,”
said Mikiko Otani, ICJ Commissioner and former Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The workshop discussed access to a guardian by unaccompanied minors, as a central safeguard ensuring children’s best interests and the right to be heard throughout proceedings. Challenges discussed included the question of independence of guardians, high caseloads, and the lack of effective complaint mechanisms. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, set to be implemented at national level from July 2026, introduces severalprovisions related to guardianship, such as the use of temporary representatives, specificchild-to-guardian ratios, and minimum qualification requirements left to national interpretation.
The EU Pact will significantly lower the existing procedural safeguards on legal aid across the EU. It will no longer be required to provide free legal assistance at the first stage of the asylum determination proceedings, but only at the appeals stage. This raises significant concern, as the provisions appear to be inconsistent with international human rights law andstandards. EU Member States have the possibility to provide for higher standards than those foreseen in the EU Pact and should guarantee free legal counselling and representation from the start of the proceedings.
4. Webinar on procedural rights of migrant and refugee children 🗓️ 7 October 2025 | Online
On 7 October 2025, the ICJ organized a follow-up webinar on procedural rights of migrant and refugee children in legal proceedings, offering an opportunity for continued exchange following the September workshop in Brussels.
The findings and recommendations from this workshop will feed into a forthcoming report aimed at providing strategies and good practices ensuring the child’s right to be heard in legal proceedings.
5. Transnational Exchange Workshop on inclusive considerations for children with disabilities in legal proceedings 🗓️ 13-14 November 2025 | Brussels
On 13–14 November 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) organized a workshop in Brussels on the right of children with disabilities to participate effectively in legal proceedings. Experts and legal practitioners from Austria, the Czech Republic, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia exchanged good practices and strategies for ensuring access to justice for children with disabilities, in particular those with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities.
The workshop explored international and EU legal standards that require States to ensure access to justice for children with disabilities, including the right to be heard and to participate in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings.
“Although all EU Member States, and the EU itself, have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and must comply with it and interpret legislation in line with it, practical implementation remains far behind these obligations,”
said Karolína Babická, Senior Legal Adviser of the ICJ.
“State authorities and justice actors must ensure that procedural accommodations are made available in each individual case. Without them children with disabilities face discrimination in justice systems,”
she added.
Participants identified several common challenges in ensuring access to justice for children with disabilities across different EU countries represented. These included restrictions on legal capacity in proceedings, limited use of child-friendly language and easy-to-read formats, low awareness of and identification of children with disabilities, and the lack of specific, mandatory and continuous training for judges and other justice professionals.
The diverse group of judges and lawyers working with NGOs, law firms and Ombudsperson offices for children and persons with disabilities contributed examples of good practices for adequate procedural accommodations that support effective participation. These included accessible and adapted courtroom settings and the availability of specialized professionals, such as intermediaries and support persons. Participants also emphasized the need for stronger interdisciplinary collaboration among teachers, lawyers, social workers, guardians, police officers, judges, interpreters, and psychologists, to identify and support the special needs of children with disabilities. They further underscored the need to make national remedies both more accessible and more effective.
A follow-up webinar will take place in the coming weeks, offering an opportunity for continued exchange.
Project Partners
- International Commission of Jurists (Belgium)– Project Coordinator
- Nederlands Juristen Comite Voor Demensenrechten (Netherlands)
- Aditus Foundation (Malta)
- ICJ Austria (Austria)
Full name of the project
Be Seen, Be Heard – Empowering Child VOICEs in Legal Proceedings (VOICE) CERV-2024-CHILD
This project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.