Ireland to ratify UN protocol on children
The Government has approved the ratification of an optional UN protocol aimed at strengthening protections for children.
The Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is aimed at protecting child victims of the sale of children, the exploitation of children in prostitution, and child sexual-abuse material.
Ratification will mean that individual children or their representatives can submit a communication to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child if they believe that any of their rights guaranteed by the protocol have been violated.
Laws
The Government move follows the implementation of several laws passed to ensure that Ireland was in a position to ratify the protocol. These include:
- Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012,
- Children First Act 2015,
- Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017,
- Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, and
- Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024.
Norma Foley (Minister for Children, Disability and Equality) described the decision as “another important milestone” in Ireland's implementation of the UN convention.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee said that ratification was “an important signal” of Ireland’s commitment to the UN’s human-rights frameworks.