Hybrid event: What is next for protecting child rights in digital justice?

An expert dialogue on how to protect procedural rights of children in the digital age across the European Union

Overview 

A one-day hybrid event for around 25 participants in Brussels and up to 40 online. 

Date and time: 10 November 2026, 09:30–16:30 CET 

Venue: Baker & McKenzie offices in Brussels: Bolwerklaan 21 Avenue du Boulevard, 1210 Brussels, Belgium 

Online participation: Via Zoom, register here.

Language / interpretation: Simultaneous interpretation Spanish–English (plenary sessions) 

 

Background 

Across Europe, justice systems are moving or have moved online. Remote hearings, often with the child appearing by video from a detention centre or prison, promise efficiency, but safeguards designed for the courtroom do not translate easily to a screen. Children can struggle to understand what is happening, to speak privately with their lawyer and to take part effectively in decisions that affect their lives. 

The Protecting the Procedural Rights of Children in the Digital Age (PPRO-Child) project (2024–2026), funded by the European Union, set out to understand these risks and to build practical solutions. It was implemented by Penal Reform International (PRI) with Terre des Hommes Hungary, Terre des Hommes Romania and Tierra de Hombres España, in Ireland, Romania, Spain and Ukraine. Over two years, the project: 

  • Listened to children and professionals. Child-participatory research captured the experience of children who had taken part in remote hearings, alongside judges, lawyers, detention staff, social workers and psychologists. 
  • Co-designed solutions. Workshops in all four countries brought children and professionals together to design practical fixes. 
  • Put them into practice. Ireland: a remote hearings operating procedure for Oberstown Children Detention Campus, approved by its Board, and a redesign of the remote hearing room by DLR Group, now with the Irish Government for costing. Romania: a checklist and training for new magistrates with the National Institute of Magistracy. Spain: a rights-based checklist and user guide. Ukraine: practical memos for practitioners. 

Purpose of this expert dialogue: looking ahead 

We now have findings, guidelines and tested tools. This event uses them as a starting point rather than an end point, asking what it will take for children’s rights to keep pace as justice goes digital. Together, we will: 

  • Reflect honestly on what worked, how to ensure scale up and also ask what could be improved in similar initiatives in future. 
  • Connect the results to new standards and policy, including the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s newly adopted General Comment No. 27 on access to justice and effective remedies, and the European Commission’s priorities. 
  • Look over the horizon at the challenges coming next, from children accused of online offending to AI, neurotechnology and ‘smart prisons’. 
  • Agree what happens next: where advocacy should focus, which gaps need further work, and who is best placed to take the guidelines forward. 

This dialogue brings together judges, lawyers, prison and detention staff, children’s rights experts, UN and EU representatives, and NGOs from Ireland, Romania, Spain and Ukraine. 

Speakers: 


 🔹 Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Member, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – TBC
 🔹 Professor Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers 
 🔹 Marie-Cécile Rouillon, Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, European Commission – TBC
 🔹 Kate Fox, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 
 🔹 Cedric Foussard, Child Friendly Justice Network 
 🔹 Mariana Pérez-Cruz, Children’s Rights Expert 
 🔹 Pia Puolakka, MindTech 
 🔹 Olivia Rope, Executive Director, Penal Reform International 
 🔹 Barclay Wohlstetter, Project Coordinator, Penal Reform International 
 🔹 Oscar O’Mara, Consultant, Penal Reform International 

View the full agenda: Programme – PPRO-Child_Brussels dialogue_10 November 2026

View the flyer: Event flyer-What is next for protecting child rights in digital justice

Register here for online participation.

 

Special thanks to Baker McKenzie for generously hosting the event.