The principle of “best interests of the child” is a basic instrument in the protection of children’s rights, the application of which guarantees solutions that best suit the needs and interests of the child. As a general principle, it has long been accepted in many international documents, but as a special principle it is promoted for the first time in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is one of the basic principles on which the whole corpus of the rights of the child contained in the Convention is based and protected, without the observance of which no other right can be fully exercised.
Based on the Initiative adopted by the Children’s Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2016 and with the support of UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina, the network of non-governmental organizations for children “Stronger Voice for Children” launched a consultative process to develop Guidelines on the Assessment and Determination of the Best Interest of the Child. The process involved experts, representatives of relevant institutions from all levels of government, academia, international and domestic organizations and professionals from various fields who are directly involved in assessing the best interests of the child. On the document itself, over 40 people worked.
The guidelines that we will present tomorrow were made for the areas of family and social protection, education, health care, civil court proceedings, criminal proceedings and guidelines for the development of public policies, laws and bylaws concerning children.
We intend, by the end of the year, to distribute the Guidelines to all institutions and organizations working for the benefit of children.
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