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Ireland’s Ombudsman for Children – Combining Power and Influence to Advance Children’s Rights

Ursula Kilkelly (University College Cork (UCC), Ireland)
Emily Logan (Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission)

The Roles of Independent Children's Rights Institutions in Advancing Human Rights of Children

ISBN: 978-1-80117-609-5, eISBN: 978-1-80117-608-8

Publication date: 9 May 2022

Abstract

Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, focus has shifted to its implementation at national level. In this regard, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that every state party needs an independent human rights institution for children which should, whatever its form, be able independently to monitor, promote and protect children’s rights. Ireland established its Ombudsman for Children in 2004, with a founding law that gives the institution a wide range of powers associated with the duty to promote children’s rights. These include the express duty to advise Government, raise awareness, undertake research, and consult with children about matters that concern them. The Ombudsman for Children also has the power to receive complaints from children and investigate actions of public bodies that have adversely affected a child in areas of social and health services, child protection and education. This chapter considers the exercise by the Ombudsman for Children of these statutory powers against the backdrop of international standards on independent institutions for children. It illustrates how the Ombudsman for Children has advanced children’s rights in Ireland by taking a proactive and strategic approach to its legislative mandate, and notes in particular the role that soft power – derived from the Ombudsman’s independence, legitimacy and influence – has helped to maximize the potential of the institution.

Keywords

Citation

Kilkelly, U. and Logan, E. (2022), "Ireland’s Ombudsman for Children – Combining Power and Influence to Advance Children’s Rights", Lux, A., Gran, B. and Bass, L.E. (Ed.) The Roles of Independent Children's Rights Institutions in Advancing Human Rights of Children (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 28), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 39-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120220000028004

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022 Ursula Kilkelly and Emily Logan