The Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation Project (ACRiSL), the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS), and the European Network for Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) held a webinar on ‘Putting Strategic Litigation into Action for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)' on 3 March 2023. This event marked the formal launch of the CYPCS' Children’s Rights Strategic Litigation Toolkit.
The Toolkit has been designed to ensure that the CYPCS uses its powers in a way that is consistent with the Commissioner’s role to promote and safeguard children’s rights, and in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It was authored by Shauneen Lambe and Aoife Nolan, drawing on the research of the ACRiSL project. The work was carried out with the support of an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account grant.
This event used the Toolkit as a starting point for a broader discussion of the potential of NHRIs to carry out work on strategic litigation focused on advancing children’s rights. It brought in expert speakers working on this issue from a range of different perspectives. The presentations were followed by a Q&A/discussion with event participants.
The event was chaired by Bruce Adamson - Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. Speakers included:
Salvör Nordal – Chairperson, ENOC / Ombudsman for Children, Iceland
Professor Aoife Nolan - Co-Director, Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham / ACRiSL project
Shauneen Lambe - Director at Impact law for Social Justice / ACRISL project
Nick Hobbs - Head of Advice and Investigations, office of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland
Follow this link to watch the video recording of the event.