The fundamental rights of children as guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is one of the topics that cuts across legal disciplines giving rise to a broad range of issues. This course aims at providing an overview of these problems.

The course takes learners across the general presentation of the varieties of contexts where children’s rights emerge. In doing so, it builds on the guiding principle of the best interest of the child both in the EU and international context. Learners will subsequently explore how rights of the child are shaped in the context of provisions ruling EU citizens and third country citizens in the context of asylum in migration. Finally, children’s rights will be presented within the area of the judicial cooperation in civil matters.

This is the third of five e-learning courses offered within the ambit of the e-NACT project, this time delivered by the University of Florence.

Learning objectives

Having completed this course, the learners will have obtained the general knowledge of the principles behind children’s rights protection in the European Union. They will have appreciated the problems arising from the all-encompassing nature of the children’s rights’ protection as embedded across the variety of provisions of the EU Charter.

Course Outline

Week 1: Children Protection in the EU and the Role of the Charter: An Introduction
During the first week of the course the general framework of children’s rights protection will be presented. Spotlight will be placed on children’s rights as guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and by public international law. Here the general principle of the best interests of the child is introduced and explained.

Week 2: Children Protection in the Context of EU Citizenship, Free Movement Law and Family Reunification
The second week of the course is dedicated to freedom of movement of persons within the European Union and, in particular, to the protection afforded to children and their parents on the basis of the citizenship law.

Week 3: Child Protection in the Context of Migration and Asylum Law
To contrast the EU citizenship experience, in Week 3 learners will explore the migration and asylum context and the manner in which the EU law protects children seeking entry and stay in the European Union.

Week 4: Protecting Third Country Nationals Who Are Unaccompanied Minors. Legal Gaps and Challenges
Special attention will be paid during Week 4 to the case of unaccompanied minors and legal challenges emerging in this context.

Week 5: Children Protection in the Context of Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matterss
Finally, during Week 5 you will explore the guarantees of children’s rights protection in the context of the judicial cooperation in civil matters featuring mutual trust and mutual recognition and enforcement of judgements, predominantly in the area of family law.

The overall Project

This is the third of five e-learning courses offered within the ambit of the e-NACT project, led by the Centre for Judicial Cooperation, based at the European University Institute, with the participation of The Global Campus of Human Rights and a variety of national institutions offering trainings to judges in national contexts.

e-learning National Active Charter Training(e-NACT) Project is a DG Justice supported project providing for a training methodology and training activities that, coupled with the expertise of the trainers involved, foster the emergence and consolidation of a common culture of fundamental rights. By discussing with academics and with foreign colleagues their difficulties or good practices with respect to the application of the EU Charter, legal practitioners will deepen their understanding and equip themselves with new instruments and notions to use it effectively.For this purpose, e-NACT will offer systematic, interdisciplinary, interconnected and combined residential and e-learning training on five fundamental rights guaranteed in the EU Charter.

The following courses are offered within this project:

• Crash course on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (1 week)
• Freedom of expression (5 weeks)
• Social rights (5 weeks)
• Children’s rights (5 weeks)
• Data protection (5 weeks)
• Protection of fundamental rights in the area of asylum and migration (5 weeks)

Lecturers and Experts

The e-NACT courses feature a group of academics, judges, and other practitioners passionate for fundamental rights and willing to spread the knowledge about them both within their professional networks and beyond (read all bios here). As the courses build on the trans-national trainings conducted within the e-NACT project, we invited also experts that delivered these residential training to enrichen the online courses with their perspectives and experience.

Claire Bright

Eleanor Spaventa

Cesare Pitea

Daniela Vitiello

Sara Migliorini

Nicole Lazzerini

Ornella Feraci

Claudia Pretto