Guidelines on Child-Friendly Legal Aid - 2018

Highlights

Children come into contact with the law for various reasons – as defendants or witnesses in criminal proceedings; as parties in family proceedings; as victims of physical or psychological violence, sexual abuse or other crimes or rights violations; and as parties in civil or administrative proceedings on issues including health care, social security, disability, and asylum and refugee claims. The outcomes of these cases can be hugely significant for the children’s lives in both the long term and the short term. They can determine whether the children go into detention, whom they will live with, what contact they can have with their parents and siblings, which country they will live in and where they will go to school.