A/HRC/29/26 Children’s access to justice and legal aid B. 1. Access to justice for children 28. As defined by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), access to justice is the ability of people to seek and obtain remedy through formal or informal institutions of justice, and in conformity with human rights standards. 6 Access to justice constitutes both a fundamental human right in itself and the means of enforcing or restoring the exercise of rights that have been disregarded or violated (A/69/294, para. 50 and A/HRC/8/4, para. 17). 29. As previously underlined by the Special Rapporteur, the lack of access to justice has serious consequences for the full enjoyment of human rights. In turn, fair and effective justice systems, able to provide people with effective redress and adequate remedies, constitute the most efficient way to ensure a sense of safety, stability and prosperity, by reducing the risks associated with violence and abuses of rights and by deterring perpetrators from committing further violations (A/69/294, para. 52). 30. As children are particularly vulnerable to violations of their rights and to abuses of all sorts, their access to justice should be facilitated and reinforced. In reality, while many obstacles impede both adults’ and children’s access to justice, children are often disproportionately affected. They also face specific barriers owing to their status as minors. 31. Various factors and circumstances impede appropriate and equal access to justice for children; they can be clustered in six categories. First, children can face physical barriers, which include geographical distance from courts or other relevant institutions or lack of adequate facilities at those institutions’ premises. Second, psychological factors can also play an important role in undermining children’s access to justice. Children may be unable or reluctant to seek justice because they are too young or too traumatized to articulate what happened to them; or they are afraid of, dependent on or love the alleged perpetrator(s); or they do not perceive what happened to them as a violation of their rights. Third, children also face social and/or cultural barriers when trying to access justice; these can be related to their difficulties to communicate, fear of social stigma associated with the formal justice system, dependency on adults, or mistrust of the justice system. 32. Fourth, barriers relating to information also seriously hamper access to justice for children. Information on fundamental rights, available remedies and procedures to follow to claim their rights is not always available and, when available, often difficult to understand, even for adults. Fifth, while children lack financial autonomy and means, court proceedings often represent a heavy financial burden, as can the costs of initiating and pursuing proceedings, including lawyers’ fees. Lastly, children encounter legal obstacles on their path to justice, such as lack of legal capacity or standing, lack of legal identity (especially relevant for children who are unregistered migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, or street children), or dependence on parents or a legal guardian. Dependence on adults often compounds the other obstacles for children trying to access justice. 33. Guaranteeing children the right to equal access to justice means making special provisions for them and offering them differentiated protection. As stated by the Committee on the Rights of the Child: “children’s special and dependent status creates real difficulties for them in pursuing remedies for breaches of their rights. So States need to give particular attention to ensuring that there are effective child-sensitive procedures available to children and their representatives. These should include the provision of child- 6 UNDP, Programming for Justice: Access for All—A Practitioner’s Guide to a Human Rights-Based Approach to Access to Justice (2005), p. 5. 7