On the 24th of October a thematic meeting took place in the context of the European project “SUN”. This project is about protecting the rights of unaccompanied and separated children on the basis of the EU Charter. During this interactive meeting we launched the practical manual on the EU Charter that has been developed in collaboration with all project partners and we zoomed in on an overarching theme, namely Article 24(1) EU Charter: the importance of the child’s position in accordance with his/her age and maturity.
There were interesting discussions about the difference in approach of children by judges in family law and alien law. Also a behaviroal scientist of Nidos gave a presentation on how to talk with children. From which age can you talk with children? What are important verbal and non-verbal aspects?
“The question is not whether children have an opinion, but how we can communicate with children to find out their opinion or obtain that information”
In the end, an alien lawyer gave insights in jurisprudence on the best interest of the child and child participation. She talked about difference in theory and practice and set out some interesting cases for discussion.
