Advocates for children's rights say access to legal aid and beefed-up systems back home are necessary to make new UN obligations anything more than a tick-box exercise
New Zealand children can now complain to the United Nations, but advocates fear without education and access to legal aid, the mechanism will never be used.
As of December last year, individuals or groups can take their grievances to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, if they believe the government has violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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But getting to that point is no easy feat.
Save the Children advocacy director Jacqui Southey said for starters all domestic options of complaint need to have been exhausted.
“We see that as a key area that needs attention... currently, in our view, there are not great mechanisms for domestic remedy and, we think, hard to access.
“For example, in the Education and Training Act there is provision for disputes panels. So if a child comes into an area of conflict within school education they can take their dispute to the disputes panel and have it heard independently.
"Well, [a panel] has never been set up, and there's no indication that they are going to be set up anytime soon so that lack of access to a complaints system is concerning."
Green Party human rights spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said bodies such as the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, the Office of the Children's Commissioner and YouthLaw would need to be better resourced for the domestic complaints system to work better and have faster resolutions.
"If you've already had serious harm from the state, you’ve taken them to court and that didn't work so now you're going to the committee ... it's a big step and there’s a lot in it.” - Jacqui Southey
She said ratifying this tool could nudge those operating domestic systems to do better, because the government would not want a complaint to go to the UN and risk reputational damage.
“But then again, is that threat real when there isn't the resources for it?” she said.
Justice Minister Kiri Allan said legal aid was not available to people taking complaints to the UN, but resourcing options were being developed.
“Legal aid is available for domestic processes only. During the process of acceding to the [protocol], Cabinet asked officials to consider ways to make support available to persons wishing to lodge a complaint with the UN Committee. This work is underway.”
Southey said it was big effort without adequate expert support and funding.
"A child doesn't require a lawyer to go to the UN, an advocate who understands the process has a good opportunity to be successful but how many of those exist?"
She said costs, including if the child or group needed to appear in front of the committee in Geneva, could also be a barrier.
“You've got to be really well resourced to be able to do that and in addition you’ve got to have the confidence to take the system on.
“And my worry is that if you've already had serious harm from the state, you’ve taken them to court and that didn't work so now you're going to the committee... it's a big step and there’s a lot in it.”
Children's Rights Alliance Aotearoa chair Claire Achmad said awareness and education around the new mechanism should be the first step for the Government.
“It's one thing to have a protocol sitting there but then it's another thing to actually implement it and this does rely on children and their supporting communities knowing that it's an option for them.
“[We] want to see the Government do some really clear communications and awareness-raising directly to children and their whānau and also to those people and organisations who work with children - so for example, schools, get the word out there."
What complaints could we see?
Ghahraman said there were a number of issues groups might explore now this mechanism was on offer.
“Things like the voting age... they have gone up to the Supreme Court. So they can actually show that they've exhausted their domestic remedies, and there's been no law change.
"So 16 or 17-year-olds could go out and access this mechanism for their voting rights.”
“The other one that I would keep a close eye on is the right to a healthy environment, which has just been recognised ... so yeah, climate action, could be one that could go up.”
A spokesperson for Make It 16 said it was not something the group was considering at the moment.
Achmad said immigration issues may also come to the fore.
“There's quite a trend that a lot of the complaints are being made around immigration-related issues and so that's potentially interesting for New Zealand, whether that might be an area of children's rights, that complaints might be brought forward.
“Especially because we have historically had quite a lot of movement cross-border.
Access to education and inclusivity for all children was also an issue experts thought could be included.
Overall, advocates were pleased the protocol had been agreed to, and were cautiously optimistic it would encourage improved domestic practices, as well as be a viable option if needed.
Violations that occurred prior to this coming into force on December 2022 can not be taken to the UN.
