A/HRC/25/35 recognized as having infringed the penal law, victims and witnesses5 or children coming into contact with the justice system for other reasons, such as regarding their care, custody or protection. 5. The concept of access to justice for children requires the legal empowerment of all children. They should be enabled to access relevant information and to effective remedies to claim their rights, including through legal and other services, child rights education, counselling or advice, and support from knowledgeable adults.6 Moreover, access to justice for children requires taking into account children’s evolving maturity and understanding when exercising their rights. B. Child-sensitive justice and juvenile justice 6. While juvenile justice and child-sensitive justice are related to the concept of access to justice for children, these concepts should be distinguished. Juvenile justice specifically addresses the situation of children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law. It refers to “laws, policies, guidelines, customary norms, systems, professionals, institutions and treatment specifically applicable to children in conflict with the law”.7 7. The United Nations Guidelines on Justice in Matters Involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime define child-sensitive as “an approach that balances the child’s right to protection and that takes into account the child’s individual needs and views”.8 Similarly, according to a definition of the Council of Europe, child-friendly justice “means creating a justice system which guarantees the respect and the effective implementation of all children’s rights, giving due consideration to the child’s level of maturity and understanding and to the circumstances of the case. It is, in particular, justice that is accessible, age appropriate, speedy, diligent, adapted to and focused on the needs and rights of the child, respecting the rights of the child including the rights to due process, to participate in and to understand the proceedings, to respect for private and family life and to integrity and dignity.”9 II. Legal framework 8. Human rights norms and standards relevant to ensuring access to justice for children are set out in a series of legally binding and non-binding international and regional human rights instruments.10 Elements of access to justice for children in particular include the 5 6 7 8 9 10 4 “Child victims and witnesses” denotes children and adolescents, under the age of 18, who are victims of crime or witnesses to crime regardless of their role in the offence or in the prosecution of the alleged offender or groups of offenders; Economic and Social Council resolution 2005/20, article 9 (a). UN Common Approach to Justice for Children, p. 4. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/UNICEF, Manual for Measurement of Juvenile Justice Indicators, 2006, p. 54. Economic and Social Council resolution 2005/20 article 9(d). Guidelines of the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on ChildFriendly Justice, article II.a; for the purpose of this report, child-friendly and child-sensitive are considered as synonymous. All core international human rights treaties are relevant in this context. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which also places obligations on States to follow the principles of child-sensitive justice, should be particularly highlighted. Regional human rights treaties – such as the American