Council of Europe

Conference on the Best Interests of the Child, Brussels, 9-10 December 2014 

For the Council of Europe and its member states, children’s rights, and human rights in general, have always been a high priority. For this reason the Belgian authorities decided to place children’s rights on the agenda with the view to supporting the full implementation of the UNCRC. On 29 May 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child came forward with the General Comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1 UNCRC). It is against the backdrop of providing substantial input to this General Comment, that Belgium has decided to organise the conference. The aim of the conference is to improve the understanding and implementation of this complex principle. The various positive aspects as well as the tensions of the concept will be examined as they are perceived by stakeholders, policy-makers and other experts who are involved in determining the best interests of the child. The conference will also focus on the best interests of the child in family cases . The medium-term objective of the conference is to build on existing norms and guidelines as well as to develop ethical, procedural and further practical guidelines to support practitioners and policy makers in determining the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.