Draft Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 202-

​A review of P.19/2022 Draft Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 202-. The draft Law is intended to create a statutory duty for 'duty bearers' to give consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) when developing policy or legislation for debate in the States Assembly. This is due to be debated by the States Assembly on 29th March 2022.

Duty bearers are defined in three groups, Ministers of the Government of Jersey, Elected States Members and the Panel's and Committee's of the States Assembly. The draft Law proposes that these duty bearers should give regard to children's rights through the form of a Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA). This has been brought forward due to a States Assembly decision in 2017 after the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry was publised.

The Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel has been examining the draft Law since it was lodged on 15th February in order to identify whether any changes or improvements are required prior to the debate.

​The Panel has presented three amendments in relation to the draft Law ahead of the debate on 29th March. These can be accessed below.

Amendment One - This amendment would change the manner in which decisions are made about which types of propositions can be exempted from requiring a CRIA. The draft Law allows for the Minister for Children and Education to do this by making a Ministerial Order and the Panel's amendment changes this to allow the States Assembly to decide whether to change the exemptions by Regulations instead.

Amendment Two - The draft Law currently states that a CRIA is done in two stages when a duty bearer is putting together a proposition (topic for debate). A preliminary assessment determines whether a full CRIA is required and this must be completed prior to the proposition being lodged. There is no requirement in the draft Law for a CRIA to be done at either stage for amendments to propositions. The Panel's amendment would make it a statutory duty for a preliminary assessment only to be completed for an amendment to a proposition and any subsequent amendments. It would be up to the individual duty bearer to decide whether to do a full CRIA if the preliminary assessment deterimines that one is required.

Amendment Three - The draft Law states that the Law will be brought in to force on a day specified by the Minister for Children and Education through a Ministerial Order. The Panel's amendment changes this so that the States Assembly agrees the date via an Appointed Day Act instead.  

The Panel has also presented comments in relation to the draft Law ahead of the debate.

​To conduct legislative scrutiny of the Draft Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 202- to ensure its adequacy and accuracy.