United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024: sources to guide interpretation

2. Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of 18 independent experts set up by the UN to monitor the progress that State Parties to the UNCRC have made in relation to implementation of the UNCRC.

CRC Reporting guidelines explain that State Parties which have adopted the UNCRC are obliged to submit regular reports to the CRC on implementation of the Convention. States must submit an initial report two years after acceding to the UNCRC. Under the simplified procedure for reporting to the CRC, approximately every eight years, the CRC will request from State Parties specific information across a range of policy issues. This is known as the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR). The State Party’s response to the LOIPR constitutes its report to the Committee. The CRC examines the State Party’s response to the LOIPR and the further information provided by State Party delegates during the interactive Dialogue session with Committee members in Geneva. The CRC addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State Party in the form of ‘concluding observations’ which are published shortly after the Dialogue session (see section 5 on Concluding Observations).

The CRC has a range of responsibilities, it reviews the progress of State Parties to provide General Comments, Concluding Observations, views and findings under the third Optional Protocol (not yet ratified by the UK) and recommendations following Days of General Discussion. It also issues general guidance and hears individual complaints.

These responsibilities all form part of sources which can assist in interpreting the UNCRC, and are available on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website.