1. Legal institutions for the rights of the child

The main mandate of the legal institutions for the rights of the child is to promote the rights of the child through knowledge dissemination as children need special attention and protection to ensure their rights. Advocating for the rights of the children should be evidence-based and inclusion of awareness-raising. Following legal institution for the rights of the child plays a think-tank role in their respective nation, regional and international commitment toward the protection of the rights of the child.

  • Department of Child Law, Leiden University is a knowledge centre dedicated to academic research and education for both students and professionals in the field of child law and children’s rights. The Department of Child Law accommodates the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, which is an open access online database on international children’s rights jurisprudence, focusing on the decisions of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communication Procedure. Furthermore, the Department of Child Law conducts scientific research projects for governments, international organisations, including UNICEF, the Council of Europe and different institutions, including the Dutch children’s ombudsperson. For more information, please refer https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/law/institute-of-private-law/child-law
  • Center for Child Law of Law Faculty at the University of Pretoria was held in October 1998 and contributes towards establishing and promoting the best interests of children in our community through education, research, advocacy and litigation. The Centre’s mission is to work towards the development of child law and the realization of children’s rights in South Africa, within a regional and international context. For more information, please refer https://centreforchildlaw.co.za/about/

 

2. Legal programs and training for rights of the Child

If you are a novice to child law and the rights of the child and willing to learn about the rights of the children, following online courses will help you to meet your needs of learning. The great advantage of the online course is complete to course your own pace and time.   

  • Online courses

Course titleOrganizersAbout CourseScope of the teachingNote
Child Protection: Children’s Rights in Theory and PracticeHarvard UniversityLearn how to protect children from violence, exploitation, and neglect through law, policy, and practice in a human rights framework.1. The origins of child protection in international human rights law; 2. How to analyze global child protection issues and the diversity of actors involved in child protection; 3. The impact of violence, exploitation, and abuse on children’s emotional, social and physical development and strategies for preventing and responding to these harms; 4. The standards of protection for children in conflict or in contact with the law; 5. How to assess and strengthen a child protection system
Payment: Course is free of charge (optional to take certificate by 100USD)
Child Right Programming E-learningSave the ChildrenThis Child Rights Programming (CRP) e-learning course is a free and the course will instruct on how to carry out Child Rights Programming and how to be a rights-based organisation. 1. Introduction to CRP,
2. How to apply CRP,
3. Challenges faced and practical guidance, and
4. How to be a rights-based organization.
Payment: Free of charge

Duration: 2.5 hours
Keeping children and vulnerable people safeChildsafeObjective of the course is to provide basic training on key issues relating to care and safety of children and vulnerable people at personal level in a community organizational and institutional context • The need to keep children and vulnerable people safe
• Personal and organisationsal child safety management
• The issues of abuse and responding appropriately to incidents and suspected malicious behaviors
• How to support the rights of children and vulnerable people and crease a safe environment for all
Fee is 38.50 AUD
Course duration: 85 min
Children’s Human Rights – An Interdisciplinary IntroductionUniversity of Geneva (Coursera.org)In this course the participants will explore critical issues concerning the rights of children from a multidisciplinary approach. Participants will gain insight relative to the development of this specific human rights category, as well as to the evolution of the challenges faced by children over time and society’s efforts to respond. Successful international strategies and programs promoting children’s rights will be highlighted, as well as the role of key actors involved in international organizations working in this field.• International standards and monitoring systems
• The history of children’s rights in the context of human rights
• Interdisciplinary Children’s Rights Studies
• Juvenile justice
Payment: Free of charge

Duration: 2-4 hours
Keeping Children Safe Online National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (UK)Developed by the NSPCC in association with CEOP, the child protection unit of the National Crime Agency, this e-learning course will help you to understand what children and young people do online, why they take risks and how to respond to these risks so you can feel confident in protecting the children you work with.• how children use the internet and technology
• the risks children take online
• harmful content online
• online radicalization and extremism
• sharing and sexting
• sexual offending against children online
• bullying online
• supporting parents and careers
• supporting children and young people
• how to make organisations safer places for children to go online.
Payment: 35GBP
Duration: 4 hours online course
National Children’s Advocacy CenterNational Children’s Advocacy Center offers variety of online training courses related to child protective services, administration, interviewing, law enforcement, legal, medication, mental health, prevention, victim advocate, and wellness of children. Highly recommended to see the list of the trainings and webinars they are offering!

  • Classroom and face to face training programs

Classroom-based courses give you learning and travelling opportunity plus interaction with other participants and learn from their experience of various countries and issues. Here are the classroom-based training courses on the rights of the children which organized on an annual basis.

Course titleOrganiserCourse descriptionScope of the teachingNote
Frontiers of Children’s Right Leiden University, Hague Frontiers of Children’s Rights provides a comprehensive children’s rights course, which takes a close look at contemporary children’s rights issues from a legal perspective accompanied by reflections from other academic disciplines, legal systems, local perceptions and realities. Themes include: juvenile justice, alternative care, protection and participation of children in (armed) conflict, emerging global issues and children’s rights and digital technologies.1. International Children’ Rights: Achievements and Challenges; 2. International Children’s Rights: Achievements and Challenges; 3. Children in Alternative Care and Institutions; 4. Implementing the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children; 5. Digital Technologies & Children’s Rights: Privacy and Online Profiling; 6. Juvenile Justice: from Theory to Practice; 7. Children’s Rights and Migration Trafficking and Other Forms of Exploitation of Children; 8. Children’s Rights and Business Principles; 9. Professor of Children’s Rights in the Developing World; 10. Addressing the Needs of Children Affected by Conflict
Payment: 950 Euro
Duration: 5 days
Child Protection University of Kent, UKIn this Child Protection course offered by University of Kent, the emphasis will be on looking at how to protect children in families and on social media.
Throughout the course the students will have the opportunity to work in groups and to use the CPD accredited interactive child protection simulations to develop their learning and promote discussion. The Child Protection Summer School is part of the University of Kent Summer School programme. It will allow you to make lasting connections with students from around the world, studying a range of subjects but sharing your own enthusiasm. International study will enable you to gain a deeper understanding of another culture, make lifelong friends from a wide variety of backgrounds and benefit from globally-renowned academic excellence
Courses included:
1. Neglect
2. Emotional abuse
3. Working with children and young people
4. Online and face to face grooming
5. Child Sexual Exploitation
6. Radicalisation
7. Child Trafficking and families on the move across Europe
Payment: 1650 GBP
Duration: 2 weeks
International Summer Course on the Rights of the ChildUniversite de Moncton Since 2012, the International Summer Course on the Rights of the Child has provided a unique opportunity for professionals to advance the children’s rights agenda and to strengthen and expand expertise. Available to any person and/or professional with an intentional interest in children’s rights, the summer course helps to strengthen national capacities to defend the rights of all children. This has been made evident by the growing participation of institutional actors such as child and youth advocates, lawyers, professionals in the fields of health, education, early childhood studies, and social work, and many others. In addition to a learning event it is a wonderful occasion for network development and collaboration.Course scope various depending on the selected team of the year. For 2020, the Right to Education: Access to post-secondary education and the transition to the workforce
Bachelor of Science in Child Protection and Juvenile JusticeBellevue UniversityThe Child Protection and Juvenile Justice accelerated cohort program develops the skills and knowledge base needed for a career in working with at risk children, juveniles, and their families. Areas of study include assessment, intervention, negotiation, victimology, and psychological disorders that affect children and adolescents. The juvenile justice system is introduced, with a focus on legal concepts and procedures. The complexity and diversity of working with families in relation to community resources is emphasized• The juvenile justice system and corrections
• Legal concepts and courtroom procedures
• Various roles involved in protecting and representing children and juveniles
• Victimology and psychological disorders affecting children and adolescents
• The complexity and diversity of family dynamics
• Support systems in place in the community
Payment:425 USD in class or online

3. Legal Clinics for children

Many law schools have legal clinics to provide their students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in real cases through researching, drafting legal arguments and meeting with clients. Those clinics are mostly managed by law school professors and offer pro-bono services to clients in need. In recent years, law schools are opening specialized legal clinics in coordination with schools of respective disciplines to motivate their students to specialized in respective areas including child rights and human rights.  Following universities are running legal clinics for the rights of the child.

  • Child Law Clinic by University College Cork, Ireland

https://www.ucc.ie/en/childlawclinic/

According to the American Bar Association, in the total following, 64 universities have child dedicated law clinics. 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/directory/legal-clinics/

  1. Child and Family Law Clinic
    University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Arizona
  2. Civil Clinic
    University of Arkansas School of Law, Arkansas
  3. Center for Children’s Rights
    Whittier Law School, California
  4. Center for Juvenile Law and Policy
    Loyola Law School, California
  5. Children’s Advocacy Institute
    University of San Diego School of Law, California
  6. Children’s Legal Issues Clinic
    University of Southern California Law School, California
  7. Disability Rights Legal Center
    Loyola Law School, California
  8. Juvenile Law Clinic
    University of Colorado School of Law, Colorado
  9. Advocacy for Children and Youth Clinic
    Yale Law School, Connecticut
  10. Center for Children’s Advocacy, Inc.
    University of Connecticut School of Law, Connecticut
  11. Criminal Justice Clinic
    American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, Dc
  12. Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic
    University of the District of Columbia, Washington, Dc
  13. Juvenile Justice Clinic
    Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, Dc
  14. Children and Families Clinic
    Barry University, Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, Florida
  15. Children and Families Clinic
    Shepard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University, Florida
  16. Children and Youth Law Clinic
    University of Miami School of Law, Florida
  17. Children’s Advocacy Center
    Florida State University College of Law, Florida
  18. Center on Children and Families
    University of Florida, Levin College of Law, Florida
  19. Juvenile Justice Center
    Barry University, Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, Florida
  20. Children & Family Justice Center
    Northwestern University, School of Law, Illinois
  21. Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic
    University of Chicago Law School, Illinois
  22. Loyola Civitas Childlaw Clinic
    Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois
  23. Valparaiso University School of Law Clinic, Indiana
  24. Viola J. Taliaferro Family and Children Mediation Clinic
    Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Indiana
  25. Middleton Center for Children’s Rights
    Drake Law School, Iowa
  26. Children and Family Law Center
    Washburn University School of Law, Kansas
  27. Juvenile Litigation Clinic
    Tulane University Law School, Louisiana
  28. Juvenile Justice Program, Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic
    University of Maine School of Law, Maine
  29. Child Advocacy Clinic
    University of Baltimore School of Law, Maryland
  30. Child Advocacy Program
    Harvard University Law School, Massachusetts
  31. Juvenile Justice Center and Child Advocacy Clinic
    Suffolk University Law School, Massachusetts
  32. Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project
    Boston College Law School, Massachusetts
  33. Child Advocacy Law Clinic, Juvenile Justice Clinic, Pediatric Advocacy Clinic
    University of Michigan Law School, Michigan
  34. Child Advocacy Clinic
    Hamlin University School of Law, Minnesota
  35. Children’s Law Clinics
    University of Minnesota Law School, Minnesota
  36. Family & Children’s Law Center
    Mississippi College of Law, Mississippi
  37. Child Advocacy Clinic
    University of Mississippi School of Law, Mississippi
  38. Children’s Rights Clinic
    Washington University School of Law, Missouri
  39. Civil Clinical Law Program
    University of Nebraska College of Law, Nebraska
  40. Thomas and Mack Legal Clinic
    University of Nevada, William S. Boyd School of Law, Nevada
  41. Children’s Law Clinics
    Rutgers School of Law-Camden, New Jersey
  42. Children’s Law Clinics
    Rutgers School of Law-Newark, New Jersey
  43. Juvenile Justice Clinic
    Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey
  44. Center for Children, Families and The Law
    Hofstra University School of Law, New York
  45. Child Advocacy Clinic
    Columbia Law School, New York
  46. Child Advocacy Clinic
    John’s University School of Law, New York
  47. Children’s Law Clinics
    New York University School of Law, New York
  48. Children’s Rights Clinic
    Syracuse University College of Law, New York
  49. Children’s Law Clinic
    Duke University Law School, North Carolina
  50. Family and Youth Law Center
    Capital University Law School, Ohio
  51. Justice for Children Project
    Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Ohio
  52. Child & Family Advocacy Clinic
    Willamette University, Oregon
  53. Children’s Advocacy Clinic
    Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania
  54. Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic
    University of Pennsylvania Law School, Pennsylvania
  55. Education Law Practicum & Youth Justice
    University of Tennessee College of Law, Tennessee
  56. Child and Family Litigation Clinic
    University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Tennessee
  57. Children’s Law Clinics
    University of Texas At Austin School of Law, Texas
  58. W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic
    Smu Dedman School of Law, Texas
  59. Child Advocacy Clinic
    University of Virginia School of Law, Virginia
  60. Children’s Law Clinics
    University of Richmond, Virginia
  61. Children & Youth Advocacy Clinic
    University of Washington School of Law, Washington
  62. The Child & Family Advocacy Clinic
    West Virginia University College of Law, West Virginia
  63. University of Wyoming Legal Services Program, Wyoming