Kick-off Meeting European Project the Voice of the Child

On the 23rd of February, CILC organized the Kick-off meeting of the EU project “The Voice of the Child”. The meeting was organized in close collaboration with the Studiecentrum Rechtspleging (SSR), Leiden University, Instituut voor Gerechtelijke Opleiding (IGO), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Scuola Superiore della Magistratura (SSM) and the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), who are also part of the beneficiaries of the project. The meeting also involved the presence of representatives from the Raad voor de Rechtspraak, the Court of Antwerp, the District Court of The Hague, and the Juvenile Court of Trento.

The project is funded by the European Commission and it aims to contribute to the EU strategy on the Rights of the Child, more specifically to child-friendly justice. The duration of the project is two years. The Voice of the Child project stems from a documentary made in 2022 in The Netherlands “De Stem van het Kind”. This video is one of five videos produced that showcases the child’s role and position in legal proceedings from the position of the Judge.

The original documentary, produced by film maker Pieter Fleury, has been shown in all the courts of the Netherlands and provides a unique insight into the work of juvenile court judges. It should be said that it is not a ‘best practice’ but rather a look into the role or voice of the child in civil cases. At Leiden University, the movie has also been used to teach Master students of Child Law and International Children’s Rights. Remco van Tooren (Con-rector of the Dutch Training and Study Center for the Judiciary) stated that even watching the movie for the 4th time remains impressive and provides a good basis for discussion as it shows the judiciary as it stands.

During the implementation of EU-funded project The Voice of the Child, the project team aims to replicate the documentary in the Court of Antwerp in Belgium, the Court of Varna in Bulgaria and the Court of Trento in Italy. The videos will be later distributed among all judicial schools and institutes under the EJTN where magistrates and court staff will be trained with these videos. The project team will also prepare a manual to guide the use of the videos and organize and international conference to mark the closing of the project.

Disclaimer: “this project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”