Finland signed Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on a complaints and investigation procedure

Press release 39/2012
28 February 2012

Today, on 28 February, Finland signed a new Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child containing provisions on a complaints and investigation procedure. The Protocol is a landmark step for strengthening the implementation of children’s rights. Finland was part of the ‘Core Group of States’ consisting of ten states, working across geographical and regional boundaries, that campaigned for the adoption of the Protocol.

The Protocol recognises the authority of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive individual and state complaints on alleged violations of children’s rights included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols containing rights of the child. The Protocol also establishes an investigation procedure for severe or systematic violations.

Similar complaints procedures are included in eight and investigation procedures in four of the key UN human rights conventions.

The Protocol needs to be ratified or joined by at least ten states before it can enter into force internationally. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will investigate the prerequisites for the ratification of the Protocol.

Further information: Krista Oinonen, Legal Officer, Unit for Human Rights Courts and Conventions, tel. +358 9 1605 5731, mobile tel. +358 40 158 5482, e-mail: [email protected]