The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted in 1989 and entered into force in 1990. While its purpose is to protect children from discrimination, neglect and abuse, it focuses the attention on the idea that the child is not only a person to be protected but an individual with its own rights.
Three main principles may be recognized as guidelines of the whole Convention: non-discrimination, participation and the best interest of the child. In relation to the latter, it does not identify a specific measure to be adopted in order to give effect to the Convention but it can be understood as an aptitude which requires a case-by-case analysis.
Among the rights affirmed in the CRC, we may recall the following:
- the right to preserve his or her identity
- the right to live within his/her family
- the right to be heard and to freedom of expression
- the right to education and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
- the right of the child to rest and leisure
Three Optional Protocols to the Convention were adopted. The first is aimed to combat the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSA) and entered into force in 2002. The second Protocol focuses its attention on the involvement of children in armed conflict and entered into force in (2002). The third Protocol aims to set up a individual communication procedure.