Children and Access to Rights and Justice

This paper deals with the issue of children’s access to rights and justice starting with the cultural, social and legal process that leads to recognising children as «subjects» of (numerous) rights and their «ability to obtain a just and timely remedy for violations of rights as put forth in national and international norms and standards (including the Crc)» (Un 2008: 4). The approach is multidisciplinary, both sociological and legal. We will draw attention to how the topic of children’s rights and access to justice for children is crucial and complex, because knowledge and skills in a variety of disciplines are needed to work in this field. Therefore, we will start with some socio-legal considerations about the difficult relationship between children and rights, and the analysis of the norms. Then we will propose specific considerations about the role of legal clinics as useful instruments to defend and promote the rights of «vulnerable» people, including children.