Upholding Children’s Rights in the Digitalisation of Justice  

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Given that today marks World Children’s Day, we would like to highlight an important milestone in our work to strengthen children’s rights. This week in Bucharest, Penal Reform International convened stakeholders from 15 countries to address the issue of procedural safeguards for children in the context of digitalisation. Organised together with our project partners Terre des Hommes Hungary, Terre des Hommes Romania, Tierra de Hombres España, and Terre des Hommes Ukraine the event got a first look of a new research report on the topic.  

The regional roundtable was held within an EU-funded Protecting Procedural Rights of Children in the Digital Age (PPRO-Child) project. Implemented in Ireland, Romania, Spain, and Ukraine, the project aims to ensure that digital judicial practices do not compromise children’s access to justice or their procedural safeguards across Europe and beyond. 

Our report, “Upholding children’s rights in remote hearings in child justice systems”, authored by Professor Nessa Lynch and Dr Oscar O’Mara, served as context to the discussions. This cross-country analysis draws on findings from four countries—Ireland, Romania, Spain, and Ukraine—and offers comparative insights and recommendations for child-centred remote hearing practices. 

The roundtable forms part of our wider effort to analyse risks emerging from digitalisation, exchange promising practices, and co-develop child-centred solutions together with justice practitioners, civil society, and researchers. 

👥 Participation 

The roundtable brought together over 50 participants from 15 countries, including public authorities such as Oberstown Children Detention Campus,the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision of Ukraine; NGOs and networks such as Barnahus Network, Child-Friendly Justice European Network, Fair Trials, Global Campus of Human Rights, International Commission of Jurists, Justice to Youth Language Needs (Y-JustLang), MindTech, and the Virtual Criminal Justice Network; IGOs such as Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European Commission, and UNICEF; and academic institutions including Lund University, Tilburg University, University College Cork, University of Strathclyde, and the University of Sydney. 

🔑 Key insights

• • The best interests and voices of children with diverse backgrounds must be at the centre of digitalisation — not efficiency or economy.
  • Remote hearings should only be applied within a strong human rights framework, in exceptional cases and when it serves the best interest of child.  
  • Remote hearings ultimately mirror the justice system they enter—only as strong as the in-person processes it builds on, and often perpetuating or even worsening existing weaknesses.

We extend our sincere thanks to all participants for their thoughtful contributions and the rich exchange of experience. 

We are especially grateful to the European Commission for making this event possible and enriching it through their contributions, Baker McKenzie and Accenture for their generous pro-bono support, and to Cristian-Gabriel Constantin for his outstanding efforts throughout the event. 

🎤 Speakers & contributors included: 

Olivia Rope, Idil Aydinoglu, Professor Nessa Lynch, Dr. Oscar O’Mara, Dr. Claire Raissian, Viktoriya Konashava, Professor Lisa Flower, Professor Carolyn McKay, Grainne Smyth, Professor Dorris De Vocht, Manu Krishan, Yuliia Usenko, Shawnna von Blixen, Pia Poullaka, Barclay Wohlstetter, Angela Virgil, Mariana Perez, Simona Di Dio, Chryssa Mela, Sophie Shields, Kate Fox, Laura Stelzer, Onorino Botezat, Mihai Enache, Dora Kiss, Fanni Somfai, Elina Shyshkina, Polina Klykova, Marie-Charlotte Bison, Issamar Reymundo, Cedric Foussard.