A/HRC/19/64 • the best interests of the child are a primary consideration to guide any legislative, administrative or judicial decisions, to determine the way proceedings are conducted and to help in addressing any conflict of interests concerning the child; • the right of all children to life, survival and development should be clearly stated in legislation and become a primary concern for all policies affecting children; • child participation and the respect for the views of the child are a requirement in all decisions affecting the child, and also a corollary of the consideration of the child as a subject of rights. The general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child constitute core indicators that can be used to assess the extent to which a justice system (whether national or international) is child friendly and effective in the protection and fulfillment of children‘s rights. These general principles are relevant in civil, criminal and administrative matters, in immigration and refugee law when fundamental freedoms or economic or social rights are at stake, and they are valid for both national and international justice systems. The Council of Europe should promote children‘s access to justice notably through: • the drafting of European guidelines for a child-friendly justice at national level, including the issue of access to national justice; • measures to improve children‘s access to international justice and in particular to Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms; • the development of child-friendly information and education and professional training on children‘s rights; • encouraging member states to establish or develop national human rights institutions adapted to the rights and needs of children. Eradication of all forms of violence against children The Council of Europe will take on the role of regional initiator and co-ordinator of national and regional initiatives to combat violence against children including corporal punishment of children in all settings and act as the European forum for follow-up to the recommendations contained in the UN Secretary-General‘ study on violence against children. In particular, the Council of Europe should: • implement and follow up the UN Secretary-General‘ study, in co-operation with the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Violence against Children; • finalise the drafting of the European policy guidelines for national integrated strategies on violence against children and support the adoption and implementation of such strategies at national level; • promote a cross-sectoral exchange of experiences between countries with regard to effective methods for protecting children from all forms of violence; • promote ratification and implementation of relevant Council of Europe legal instruments and consider reviewing the list of children-related instruments with the view to evaluating their effectiveness; • continue the campaign against corporal punishment of children launched in Croatia in June 2008 and also launch comprehensive awareness-raising actions to prevent and combat all other specific forms of violence, such as: • sexual exploitation and sexual abuse; 69