By the CBA Children’s Law Committee
National Child Day is celebrated in Canada every year on Nov. 20. This date commemorates the adoption of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
This year’s National Child Day has passed, but every action a legal professional takes affecting a child every day assumes a duty to uphold and respect that child’s rights. In recognition of National Child Day, what can you do to improve the lives of all Canadian children?
Learn about child rights.
Children have the right to equal benefit and protection of the law without discrimination under the Charter, other Canadian laws and international human rights treaties such as the CRC.
Take a child rights-based approach in your work.
Use the CRC as a framework for analysis, then begin with the child in question and determine that child's "lived reality" measured against the child’s rights under the CRC. Use a child rights-based approach in your written and oral advocacy and decision-making.
Join lawyers across the country who are championing children using the CRC as their vehicle.
Follow the work of the CBA Children’s Law Committee and consider joining a provincial Branch Children’s Law Section (Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Ont., Que.).
Recognize National Child Day by taking a look at CBA Child Rights Toolkit, which is packed with information and resources to help lawyers, judges and other professionals make better decisions for and with children. The toolkit provides checklists, key cases, precedents and sample facta, plus information on overarching principles of children’s rights and how they apply in various areas of law; constitutional considerations; legal representation; the role of independent human rights institutions; and child rights impact assessments.
For more information, visit cba.org/childrights