Committee on the Rights of the Child s32

CRC/C/CZE/CO/3-4

United Nations / CRC/C/CZE/CO/3-4
/ Convention on the
Rights of the Child / Distr.: General
4 August 2011
Original: English

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-seventh session

30 May-17 June 2011

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention

Concluding observations: Czech Republic

1. The Committee considered the combined third and fourth periodic report of the Czech Republic (CRC/C/CZE/3-4) at its 1616th and 1617th meetings (see CRC/C/SR1616 and 1617), held on 31 May 2011, and adopted, at its 1639th meeting, held on 17 June 2011, the following concluding observations.

I. Introduction

2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the combined third and fourth periodic report as well as the written replies to its list of issues (CRC/C/CZE/Q/3-4/Add.1) and appreciates the constructive dialogue with the State party’s multi-sectoral delegation.

3. The Committee reminds the State party that these concluding observations should be read in conjunction with the concluding observations on the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/CZE/CO/1), adopted on 2 June 2006.

II. Follow-up measures and progress achieved by the State party

4. The Committee welcomes as positive the adoption of the following legislative, institutional, policy and other measures:

(a) Act No. 20/2009 Coll., the new Criminal Code, which raised the standard of criminal law protection of children against abuse, exploitation, neglect and trafficking, in force from 1 January 2010 (adopted 2009);

(b) Act No. 427/2010 regarding family reunification, in 2010;

(c) Act No. 52/2009 amending Act No. 141/1961 Coll., on the Rules on Criminal Procedure, concerning victims of crime requiring extra protection, in 2009;

(d) The National Action Plan for Inclusive Education, in 2010;

(e) The National Coordination Mechanism for Missing Children, in 2010;

(f) Resolution No. 883 on the National Action Plan to Transform and Unify the System for the Care of Vulnerable Children 2009-2011, in 2009;

(g) National Plan of Action for Implementation of the National Strategy to Prevent Violence against Children in the Czech Republic 2009-2010, in 2009;

(h) The Action Plan to Implement the Early-Care Concept, in 2009;

5. The Committee also welcomes the ratification of or signature of:

(a) The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in January 2005.

(b) The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in September 2009;

(c) The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, on 1March 2007;

III. Main areas of concern and recommendations

A. General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6, of the Convention)

The Committee’s previous recommendations

6. The Committee welcomes efforts by the State party to implement previous concluding observations of the Committee adopted in March 2003 (CRC/C/15/Add.201) following the consideration of the second periodic report of the State party. Nevertheless, the Committee regrets that many of its concerns and recommendations have been insufficiently or only partly addressed.

7. The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to address those recommendations from the concluding observations on the second report that have not yet been implemented or sufficiently implemented, particularly those related to: the development of a national plan of action; the establishment of an independent body to oversee the implementation of the Convention; data collection and the full integration of the right to non-discrimination.

Reservations

8. While noting that the State party has been making efforts to amend its Civil Code to include a specific provision on the right of the child to know his or her biological parents and preserve his or her identity, the Committee remains concerned at the continued reservation to this article of the Convention by the State party.

9. In light of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights of 1993 (A/CONF.157/23), the Committee recommends that the State party consider withdrawing the reservation made to article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

Legislation

10. While welcoming Amendment No. 134/2006 Coll. to the State party’s Social and Legal Protection of Children Act (Act No. 359/1999 Coll.), the Committee is concerned that a comprehensive review of all its legislation in order to accord children their rightful status as rights holders and ensure the full compatibility of its domestic law with the Convention has yet to take place. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that provisions of the Convention are rarely invoked or directly enforced by tribunals, courts and administrative authorities.

11. The Committee recommends that the State party undertake a comprehensive review of all its legislation and take all necessary measures to ensure the full applicability of the Convention in its domestic legal system.

Coordination

12. While noting that the State party’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) has been mandated to coordinate implementation of the Convention, the Committee remains concerned about the fact that coordination between the different government ministries, departments and institutions dealing with children’s rights is insufficient at national, regional and municipal levels.

13. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that it undertakes measures to establish an effective mechanism or substantially strengthen its existing mechanism, under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, for coordinating the implementation of child rights policy amongst all the relevant bodies and institutions and at all levels. In doing so, the State party is urged to ensure that it is provided with the necessary human, technical and financial resources to implement child rights policy that is comprehensive, coherent and consistent at national, regional and municipal levels.

National Plan of Action

14. While noting the establishment of an inter-ministerial coordination group for the preparation of a national plan of action for the implementation of the Convention, the Committee is concerned that a comprehensive national plan of implementation has yet to be developed and that the State party’s sectorial approach to the Convention leads to fragmentation of its implementation.

15. The Committee recommends that the State party develop a comprehensive National Plan of Action for the implementation of children’s rights and allocate specific human, technical and financial resources for its full implementation. In doing so, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that its National Plan of Action for Children:

(a) Is based on children’s rights and constitutes an integral component of development planning;

(b) Is implemented and operationalized by, inter alia, appropriate by-laws;

(c) Defines specific goals, targets, indicators and timetables and includes a monitoring mechanism for assessing implementation progress and identifying possible deficiencies;

(d) Facilitates greater involvement of all partners concerned, including civil society and children themselves;

(e) Facilitates a coherent and consistent approach to the Convention amongst all the State party’s bodies and institutions;

(f) Takes into account the principles and provisions of the Convention, its Optional Protocols as well as the Plan of Action “A world fit for children” of 2002 and the “World fit for children Plus 5” review declaration of 2007.

Independent monitoring

16. While noting that the State party has made initial efforts at establishing an independent Children’s Ombudsman, the Committee regrets that the State party has yet to implement its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.201, para. 17) on the establishment of an independent body to monitor the implementation of the Convention, including the investigation of individual complaints by children in a child-sensitive manner. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that although the Public Defender for Human Rights can receive complaints from children, it is not provided with adequate financial, technical and human resources to effectively fulfil this function.

17. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.201 para. 17) for the State party to take into full account the Committee’s general comment No. 2 on the role of national human rights institutions, and establish an independent body to monitor the implementation of the Convention, including the investigation of individual complaints by children in a child-sensitive manner. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that the Public Defender for Human Rights is provided with all the necessary financial, technical and human resources to effectively address complaints it receives from children.

Allocation of resources

18. The Committee regrets that its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.201 para. 19) on the allocation of resources has not been adequately implemented. In particular, the Committee remains concerned that the State party’s budget continues to lack an allocation of resources that is clearly and specifically designated for the implementation of all the rights of children under the Convention.

19. The Committee urges the State party to consider amending its State Budget Act to implement article 4 of the Convention in the light of articles 3 and 6 in order to ensure that the proportions of the State budget that are allocated for the implementation of all rights, and to the maximum extent of all resources available for the economic, social and cultural rights of children, are easily identifiable and presented in a transparent way. The Committee also encourages the State party to clearly state on a yearly basis its priorities with respect to child rights issues and to identify the amount and proportion of the budget spent on children, and especially on marginalized groups, at the national and local levels, in order to enable an evaluation of the impact of expenditures on children and their effective utilization. In doing so, the State party should take into account the Committee’s recommendations of the day of general discussion of 21 September 2007 on "Resources for the rights of the child - responsibility of States."

Data collection

20. The Committee reiterates its concerns (CRC/C/15/Add.201 para. 21) on the need for the State party to further strengthen its data collection system with regards to:

(a) Data compiled by the various ministries, which is not sufficiently disaggregated for all areas covered by the Convention, particularly for children with disabilities, children of ethnic minorities, and children in vulnerable and disadvantaged situations;

(b) Data on children, which is not used in a manner that is effective in assessing progress as a basis for policymaking in the field of ensuring children’s rights.

Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that there are no adequate methodologies to identify the Roma minority with a view to collecting data in order to facilitate the fulfilment of their rights.

21. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.201 para. 21) and urges the State party to:

(a) Strengthen and centralize its mechanism for integrating and analyzing systematically disaggregated data on all children under 18 years of age for all areas covered by the Convention, with special emphasis on persons in situations of vulnerability, including children belonging to ethnic minorities; children of economically disadvantaged households; children living in rural areas; children in alternative care; children with disabilities and children in need of special protection, e.g. working children; children who have been sexually exploited and trafficked children; and

(b) Use these indicators and data effectively in formulating and evaluating legislation, policies and programmes for the implementation, resource allocation and monitoring of the Convention.

Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to establish a clear method for identifying the Roma minority in its data collection to facilitate the clarity and effectiveness of policymaking; and also ensure that such a definition is complemented by adequate support and protection mechanisms to prevent the discriminatory abuse of such data.

Dissemination and awareness-raising

22. The Committee is concerned that the general awareness of the Convention remains low and that there is no specific inclusion of the Convention in the school curricula for children.

23. The Committee urges the State party to take measures to raise public awareness of the Convention by the mass media, inter alia, and incorporate teaching on the Convention as a specific subject in school curricula.

Training

24. While welcoming the initiatives of the State party’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Interior and the Judicial Academy to train the police, doctors, government personnel in the area of social and legal protection of children, and members of the justice system, the Committee is concerned that there are no systematic ongoing training programmes on human rights, including children’s rights, for all professionals working for and with children.

25. The Committee recommends that the State party develop systematic ongoing training programmes on human rights, including children’s rights, for all professionals working for and with children.

Cooperation with civil society

26. The Committee notes the opportunities for civil society to participate in the implementation of the rights of the child in the State party. However, it is concerned that there is no consistent, timely and transparent system for allocating grants and subsidies to relevant civil society organizations. The Committee is further concerned that the current system does not allow for adequate dialogue with civil society on issues relating to resources, policies and priorities for children.

27. The Committee calls upon the State party to strengthen its cooperation with civil society and establish a transparent system, allowing for and taking into account dialogue with civil society, for the allocation of grants and subsidies for civil society organizations which assist in the implementation of the Convention and participate in the formulation of policies on children’s rights. In doing so, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 5 (CRC/GC/2003/5 paras. 56 to 59) on general measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

International cooperation

28. With respect to article 4 of the Convention, the Committee notes contributions by the State party to international cooperation efforts, in particular United Nations peacekeeping operations and bilateral and multilateral humanitarian action. Nevertheless, it notes that the State party’s current level of contribution, at 0.12 per cent of its Gross National Income (GNI), to official development assistance (ODA) is significantly below the level called for in the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development (2002) and World Summit Outcome Document (2005).

29. The Committee encourages the State party to meet the internationally agreed ODA target of 0.7 per cent of GNI. It also encourages the State party to ensure that the realization of child rights becomes a priority in international cooperation agreements established with developing countries, in its bilateral cooperation. In this regard, the Committee urges the State party to pay particular attention to the concluding observations and recommendations made by the Committee in respect of the State party’s partner countries. The Committee invites the State party to take into account its recommendations arising from the day of general discussion held in 2007 on “Resources for the rights of the child – responsibility of States”.