CAP Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC) has submitted a detailed report in response to the public consultation launched by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the draft of General Comment No. 27 on children’s right to access to justice and to an effective remedy. The call for submissions, available at the OHCHR website, seeks perspectives on improving mechanisms to ensure that children can access justice effectively and receive appropriate remedies for violations of their rights. The contributors addresses systemic challenges in France and proposes concrete recommendations to safeguard children’s rights in judicial and social protection settings.
One key strength by the authors of the report is its thorough documentation of persistent systemic failures in France concerning children’s protection, particularly when facing intrafamilial violence. The report highlights how judicial decisions sometimes place children in harm’s way by maintaining contact with alleged abusive parents, or by discrediting protective parents under contested concepts like “parental alienation.” The authors strongly calls for the mandatory suspension of visitation rights upon credible reports of abuse, comprehensive multidisciplinary investigations, and enhanced legal and psychological support for child victims and their protective parents, referencing provisions from the draft General Comment (paragraphs 15b, 62, and 16).
The report also critically examines the frequent lack of scientific rigor and procedural fairness in judicial expert assessments that influence child protection decisions. The report’s writers identifies methodological weaknesses, biases, and the use of discredited concepts, which undermine justice and trust in the system. Among their recommendations are the establishment of a national registry of qualified experts, a binding methodological charter, stronger rights to question expertise by involved parties, and accountability mechanisms for expert misconduct. These proposals align with the draft comment’s emphasis on reliable technical opinions underpinning judicial decisions (paragraph 15f).
The experts brings attention to judicial practices that violate children’s rights despite existing legal standards. The report documents issues such as the hasty dismissal of serious complaints, the inversion of the burden of proof against protective parents, and the failure to consider children’s voices adequately in decisions affecting them. To address these, CAP LC urges mandatory specialized training for judges on child protection issues, systematic child interviews unless contraindicated, development of clear judicial guidelines, and stronger sanctions for judicial misconduct, thereby reinforcing children’s rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (article 12) and echoed in the draft General Comment (paragraph 15d).
Finally, the submission scrutinizes the opaque functioning and biased practices of the French Child Welfare Services (Aide Sociale à l’Enfance, ASE). The report calls for a national framework standardizing the preparation and evaluation of ASE reports to ensure objectivity, transparency, and respect for due process. It advocates for improved social worker training, guaranteed timely access for families and children to reports before hearings, formal mechanisms to correct errors, and external audits by independent bodies to monitor compliance. These proposals reinforce the draft comment’s insistence on equitable and transparent remedies (paragraph 15f).
CAP Liberté de Conscience’s submission provides an evidence-based, systemic critique of barriers to effective justice for child victims in France, paired with practical, targeted recommendations for reform. The report calls upon the Committee on the Rights of the Child to adopt firm recommendations that ensure children are heard, believed, protected, and that protective parents receive necessary support without unjust penalties.
Submission CAP LC general comment No. 27 on children’s right to access to justice and to an effective remedy
