Social Rights

The decision of the European Committee of Social Rights on the merits of the complaint European Committee for Home-Based Priority Action for the Child and the Family (EUROCEF) v. France (No. 114/2015) became public on 15 June 2018.

The European Committee of Social Rights adopted its decision on the merits on 24 January 2018.

This decision concerns several violations to the right of unaccompanied foreign minors to social, legal and economic protection in France on several grounds (violations of Article 17§1 of the Charter) due to:

• shortcomings identified in the national shelter, assessment and allocation system of unaccompanied foreign minors;
• delays in appointing an ad hoc guardian for unaccompanied foreign minors;
• the detention of unaccompanied foreign minors in waiting areas and in hotels;
• the use of bone testing to determine the age of unaccompanied foreign minors considered as inappropriate and unreliable;
• a lack of clarity to access an effective remedy for unaccompanied foreign minors;

EUROCEF v. France also concerns lack of access to education for unaccompanied foreign minors aged between 16 and 18 years (violation of Article 17§2 of the Charter); inappropriate accommodation of minors and their exposure to life on the street; (violation of Article 7§10 of the Charter); lack of access to health of unaccompanied foreign minors (violation of Article 11§1 of the Charter); lack of access to social and medical assistance of unaccompanied foreign minors(violation of Article 13§1 of the Charter); lack of provision of a shelter ( violation of Article 31§2 of the Charter). In its decision, the Committee also concludes that that there is no violation of Article 30 of the Charter and that Article E of the Charter is not applicable to the instant case.