Animal Violence and the Rights of the Child

Marcia Hyde, Amanda Jepson and Erin Leach of A-Law discuss the recent adoption of General Comment 26 by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which states that children must be protected from all forms of violence including violence inflicted on animals.
Marcia and Amanda are both members of our Animal Welfare team within Chambers, as well as being experienced Family Law practitioners.
Erin is a Researcher specialising in the application of the core international human rights treaties and the realisation of human rights at the state national level. Her present work is with the Indigenous Research and Education Centre in North Queensland, Australia, reviewing the implications of the Northern Ireland Legacy Bill and the Queensland Treaty Act (2023). She has acted as lead researcher for the Queensland Human Rights Commission ahead of the introduction of the State’s first Human Rights Act; as sole researcher to Geoffrey Robertson KC at Doughty Street Chambers; and as lead researcher for an investigation into the standards of women's human rights in Queensland prisons for the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland.

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Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Can you confirm that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, dated 20th November 1989, is a legally binding document on the State Parties?

Yes. Each State party to a treaty has an obligation to take steps to ensure that everyone in the State can enjoy the rights set out in the treaty.

All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on the implementation of the Convention. States must submit an initial report two years after acceding to the Convention and then periodic reports every five years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”. Concluding observations are legally binding.
‘ Decision-makers, whether on a political or administrative level, have an obligation to implement, to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the Convention and that automatically includes the interpretation by the treaty body of these rights, namely the General Comments ‘