Best interests of the child

The Committee welcomes that the best interests of the child is part of the State Party’s Constitution and are a primary consideration in the adoption of all policies, legislation and by-laws, but concerned that in different situations they are not given adequate weight, recalling its general comment No. 14 (2013) and recommends that the State Party develop national criteria and guidelines for determining the best interests of the child to be followed by all authorities that make decisions affecting children in a consistent way.

The Committee recommends that the State Party strengthen measures to ensure that the right of children to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration is appropriately integrated into and consistently applied in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings and decisions and in all policies, programmes and international cooperation relevant to and having an impact on children, including in decisions concerning placement of children in foster care, exposing children to unsafe contact with their biological parents; child justice system, asylum seeking, refugees, children on the move, immigration and family reunification.