A/HRC/37/58 Child does not have an explicit provision on remedies, the requirement of effective remedies to redress violations is implicit in the Convention. To provide for effective remedies, States should ensure that individuals have access to judicial and administrative procedures that meet basic requirements, including that the procedures are impartial, independent, affordable, transparent and fair (see A/HRC/37/59, annex, framework principle 10). Decisions should be made public and promptly and effectively enforced. States should provide guidance about how to seek access to justice, and should help to overcome obstacles to access such as language, illiteracy, expense and distance. 52. Because children’s dependent status creates obstacles to their pursuit of remedies, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has made clear that 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-friendly information, advice, advocacy, including support for self-advocacy, and access to independent complaints procedures and to the courts with necessary legal and other assistance. Where rights are found to have been breached, there should be appropriate reparation, including compensation, and, where needed, measures to promote physical and psychological recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration, as required by article 39.69 53. In the context of environmental harm, children may face additional barriers to access to justice. For example, they and their representatives may lack information about the effects of particular harms or the harms may manifest only years after exposure, which may make it difficult or impossible for those affected to have standing to bring a case, meet applicable limitations periods or carry their burdens of proof and persuasion. 70 States should take steps to overcome these obstacles, including by allowing collective suits (or “class actions”) on behalf of children. Moreover, when determining the level or form of reparation, mechanisms should take into account that children can be more vulnerable to the effects of abuse of their rights than adults and that the effects can be irreversible and result in lifelong damage. They should also take into account the evolving nature of children’s development and capacities and reparation should be timely to limit ongoing and future damage to the child or children affected; for example, if children are identified as victims of environmental pollution, immediate steps should be taken by all relevant parties to prevent further damage to the health and development of children and repair any damage done. 71 54. Because environmental harm can cause irreversible effects, such as early mortality or lifelong disability, for which no remedies are truly adequate, States must do what they can to prevent the harm from occurring in the first place. In some cases, that may be possible through injunctive relief ordered by judicial tribunals or administrative bodies. In addition, States must adopt and enforce effective regulatory measures, as described in the following section. B. Substantive obligations to protect children from environmental harm 55. Ideally, States would set substantive environmental standards at levels that would prevent all harmful environmental interference with the full enjoyment of human rights. While States have obligations to take deliberate, concrete and targeted measures towards that goal, they have some discretion in deciding which means are appropriate in light of available resources. 72 However, this discretion is not unlimited. For example, environmental standards must comply with obligations of non-discrimination, and they should take into account relevant international health and safety standards (see A/HRC/37/59, annex, framework principle 11). Once States have adopted substantive environmental standards, they should ensure their effective implementation by private as well as public actors (ibid., framework principle 12). 69 70 71 72 14 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 5, para. 24. Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Report of the 2016 day of general discussion”, pp. 21–22. See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 16, para. 31. See, for example, Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 15, para. 72.