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

3. General Comments

The CRC makes recommendations on issues relating to children to which it believes the State Parties should devote more attention. General Comments provide interpretation and analysis of the UNCRC articles to help State Parties understand how they can be put into practice. For example:

• General Comment No.5 outlines States parties’ obligations to develop what it has termed ‘general measures of implementation’
• General Comment No.12 specifically focuses on a child’s right to be heard
• General Comment No.14 highlights the right of the child to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration
• General Comment No.20 covers the rights of the child during adolescence, particularly in the context of evolving capacity
• General Comment No.24 looks at children’s rights in juvenile justice, and highlights important core elements needed for a comprehensive policy focussing on prevention of juvenile delinquency, intervention without resorting to judicial proceedings and diversion (e.g. referral to alternative (social) services)

The full list of final General Comments from the CRC is available on the UN Treaty Body database, including supporting documents which aim to assist with interpretation. When considering how to implement children’s rights across their services, public authorities may find consideration of relevant General Comments useful in supporting their understanding of how the UNCRC is analysed and interpreted at an international level. General Comments and Concluding Observations provide a source of international expert opinion which experts and children’s rights observers, as well as rights holders, will be keen to see public authorities considering during implementation.