Do we need a children’s ombudsman?

The children’s ombudsman is an institution that protects the rights of children and oversees the fulfilment of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other rights promised by the legal order. The children’s ombudsman can function in many ways – it can be a part of the Office of the Public Defender of Rights or it can be an independent institution.

We do not have an institution like that in the Czech Republic and that is why we are asking: Do we need a children’s ombudsman?

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy created a shadow report with the experience of other countries with this institution. They then organised, with the help of the Academic club of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University, a panel discussion focused on the question of if we should have a children’s ombudsman. The discussion took place in the premises of the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University on the 1st of June 2016.