Children’s rights in Britain, Northern Ireland — and our shared world
By Adam Bruckshaw-Iovaine (also known as Adam Nugent)
Children’s rights aren’t a fashion or a slogan. They’re law — international human rights law that every school, service, club, charity, and government department should take seriously in daily decisions. The backbone of that law is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), adopted in 1989 and ratified by the United Kingdom on 16 December 1991 (it took effect here on 15 January 1992).
Since then we’ve made progress — but also developed new blind spots. If we want children to thrive in contemporary Britain and Northern Ireland — and play their full part in a changing world — we must turn the Convention’s articles into everyday practice.
What the UNCRC guarantees (in plain language)
The UNCRC sets out civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for everyone under 18. All states except the United States have ratified it — making it the most widely adopted human-rights treaty on Earth.
A simple way to navigate the Convention is through four pillars:
- Non-discrimination (Article 2) – every child, without exception.
- Best interests (Article 3) – a primary consideration in all actions about children.
- Life, survival and development (Article 6) – beyond survival, development in all dimensions.
- Right to be heard (Article 12) – meaningful participation in decisions affecting them.
Important articles that bite in daily policy and practice include:
- Article 19: protection from violence, abuse and neglect.
- Articles 24 & 27: the right to health and to an adequate standard of living.
- Articles 28 & 29: education — quality, dignity, and the full development of personality and talents.
- Article 31: rest, play and leisure (too often ignored).
- Article 17: access to reliable information and media literacy.
- Article 22: special protection for refugee and asylum-seeking children.
- Articles 37 & 40: justice standards — no torture or cruel treatment, detention as a last resort, fair process.
Optional Protocols (where the UK stands)
- Armed conflict (OPAC) – the UK ratified in 2003; we still enlist at 16 with safeguards and declarations about deployment.
- Sale of children/sexual exploitation (OPSC) – the UK ratified in 2009.
- Communications procedure (OP3) – not ratified by the UK, so children here cannot bring individual complaints to the UN Committee.
Devolution and domestic incorporation: where rights have teeth
- Scotland: After years of revision, the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 16 January 2024. This brings a due-regard duty and routes to challenge incompatible public-authority acts within devolved competence.
- Wales: Since 2011, Ministers must have due regard to the UNCRC when making strategic decisions (the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011), supported by Children’s Rights Impact Assessments.
- Northern Ireland: The Children’s Services Co-operation Act (NI) 2015 places duties on authorities to work together for children’s well-being — vital in a complex system.
- England (and UK-wide reality): Ratification creates binding international obligations, but the UNCRC is not fully incorporated into domestic law UK-wide — so children often can’t rely on it directly in court.
Contemporary Britain & Northern Ireland: how the articles meet real life
1) Poverty, housing, and the cost of childhood (Arts. 24 & 27)
A “best interests” test means budgets and benefits policy should be judged partly by child well-being impacts. Article 27’s adequate standard of living and Article 24’s health are not optional extras — rising living costs, insecure housing, and child food insecurity demand rights-based policymaking, not piecemeal fixes.
2) Education with dignity (Arts. 28 & 29)
School should nurture talent, character and citizenship, not only exam performance. Exclusions, off-rolling, and SEND backlogs must be tackled through a rights lens: dignity, reasonable adjustments, and participation of the child in decisions (Art. 12).
3) Protection from violence & safer childhoods (Art. 19)
Safeguarding must cover domestic abuse, peer-on-peer abuse, online grooming, serious youth violence and exploitation (including county and national lines). Multi-agency working in NI under the 2015 Act shows why law can force systems to cooperate around children, not expect children to navigate silos.
4) Digital childhood (Art. 17 & evolving capacities)
The Online Safety Act 2023 and Ofcom’s new codes push platforms to reduce illegal content and harms to children, introduce robust age checks, and tame harmful recommendation algorithms. This is a concrete expression of Articles 17 and 19 in the digital age — but delivery in practice and enforcement will dictate if it works.
5) Justice that fits childhood (Arts. 37 & 40)
The age of criminal responsibility remains 10 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — one of the lowest in Europe — while Scotland raised it to 12 (commenced December 2021). A rights-based system uses prevention, diversion and last-resort detention, with child-appropriate processes at every step.
6) Refugee and migrant children (Art. 22)
Children seeking safety are children first. Age assessments, accommodation, family reunion, and education access must reflect best interests and non-discrimination. Reservations the UK once held around immigration have long since softened in the spirit of Article 22.
7) Play, leisure, culture and sport (Art. 31)
Play is a right, not a luxury. Cutting pitches, youth clubs and safe spaces undermines development, mental health and community cohesion. Investment in physical literacy, movement and youth sport is Convention-compliant — and good economics.
Turning rights into reality: a practical agenda
- Incorporate and align: Finish the job of incorporation across the UK family of nations, learning from Scotland and Wales so that UNCRC standards can be invoked and enforced in everyday decisions.
- Measure what matters: Embed Children’s Rights Impact Assessments across Whitehall, local authorities, health boards, police and prosecutors—not just in Wales. Publish them.
- Resource the frontline: Safeguarding, SEND support, CAMHS, youth work and family support must be funded to meet need — not hope. Article 4 obliges States to use maximum available resources to realise rights.
- Listen like we mean it: Honor Article 12 by building standing youth councils, care-experienced boards, and school-level participation with feedback loops that change decisions.
- Design for equity: Tackle predictable gaps — poverty, disability, race, care experience, and geography — through targeted investment and accountability.
- Own the digital duty: Back Ofcom to enforce the Online Safety Act; demand age-appropriate design, age assurance, and algorithmic accountability.
- Raise the floor in youth justice: Expand diversion, review the age of criminal responsibility, and ensure any deprivation of liberty is truly a last resort with therapeutic settings.
A word about the world
The Convention is universal: a Barnsley classroom, a Belfast youth club, and a refugee settlement in the global South all sit under the same canopy of rights. When we protect non-discrimination, champion participation, and invest in development, we build resilient citizens and safer societies. That applies to conflict-affected children (OPAC), to survivors of trafficking and exploitation (OPSC), and to every child negotiating a digital world where profit often outruns protection.
Closing thought
Children’s rights aren’t about making adults comfortable. They are about making children visible — in budgets, in law, in practice, and in culture. The UK promised the world in 1991. Let’s keep our word — in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — and in doing so help the world keep it, too.
Key sources
- UK ratification dates and entry into force.
- Global ratification overview (UNICEF UK).
- Status of incorporation/devolved duties: Scotland Act 2024; Wales Measure 2011; NI Co-operation Act 2015.
- Optional Protocols — UK status.
- Online Safety Act and Ofcom child-safety codes.
- Age of criminal responsibility (E&W/NI = 10; Scotland = 12 from Dec 2021).
— Adam Bruckshaw-Iovaine