[GA - DEFEATED] The Children Act

The Children Act
Category: Moral Decency | Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Telgan Alpha, Co-authored by: Tinhampton | Onsite Topic​

Understanding that children require care, guidance, and protection as they grow and develop.

Disappointed, therefore, that the rights of children have seen relatively insufficient protection from this body (despite the laudable advances delivered by so few important Resolutions in these regards).

Convinced that an international, universal standard of parental rights and responsibilities, in addition to the rights of the child in defence of child welfare, must be enacted.

Further seeking to establish the best interests of the child, least restrictive intervention, and the reciprocity of intervention as the guiding principles of this Act.

Hoping that the aforementioned standards and principles - as well as measures to establish child welfare services and access to justice - will provide a solid foundation for the welfare of children everywhere.

The World Assembly hereby, subject to any limitations set by earlier resolutions that are still in force, enacts as follows:

1. In this resolution:
   1. a "child" is defined as any person under the age of majority, and
   2. a "parent" is defined as any person who currently looks after any child as a consequence of birth, adoption, or court order.
2. All parents of children in member states must show due regard to their rights and responsibilities as parents. In particular, they must:
   1. ensure that the physical, emotional, psychological, medical and educational needs of those children are met,
   2. ensure appropriate contact and relationship with those children, and
   3. otherwise dispense appropriate guidance and control over the welfare of those children, with due regard to their best interest, until the age of majority, and consideration given to age and maturity of said child.
3. Member States must respect the rights of the child, in particular, it must:
   1. ensure children are empowered to state their views,
   2. faciliate the right to social and familial relationships,
   3. guarntee the right to education, as to meet individual need,
   4. ensure protection from harm and exploitation, and
   5. faciliate social and other developmental pursuits.
4. Member states must establish child welfare services, which shall:
   1. intervene where they have a reasonable belief that parents have failed to discharge their Section 2 duties, or to assist in Section 3 duties,
   2. transfer a child to a safe location where they can prove significant likelihood that the failure of that child's parent(s) to discharge their Section 2 duties poses a significant risk to that child's life or development,
   3. never take any child away from their parents except in the course of a Section 4B transfer,
   4. robustly assess children and their immediate family members where those children are affected by a Section 4A intervention or Section 4B transfer,
   5. seek to work with such children and their parent(s) voluntarily (subject to Section 5C) and with as little restrictive intervention as possible, while also taking into account the expressed views of those children (with due regard to their maturity as assessed by welfare services, or by a specialist medical practitioner or judge) when making decisions,
   6. protect and support the development (including the care, guidance, and protection) of all children, whether or not they are affected by a Section 4A intervention, and
   7. ensure that their employees are qualified to discharge their duties, including by requiring them to adhere to an ethical code of conduct.
5. Member States shall ensure the welfare of the child is protected through the legal system, which:
   1. must ensure the full representation of that child, in particular by:
      1. involving the child in the decision-making process with due regard to their age and maturity,
      2. allowing that child to express their views and have them considered when decisions are made (with due regard to their maturity) unless excused to protect their psychological welfare or due to their inability to understand, and
      3. allowing that child to request and use the services of a lawyer or advocate at no cost to them or their parent(s),
   2. must adopt their rulings with enough swiftness to avoid harm to the child, having due regards for the best interests in the child, and in order to adopt the least restrictive means of harm reduction possible,
   3. act as an arbitrator in regards to Section 3 rights,
   4. may require parents to co-operate with those child welfare services defined in Section 4, and such services to use all resources at their disposal to serve the best interests of the child,
   5. shall permit all rulings to be appealed to any higher courts that may exist, and
   6. may only remove any of a parent's rights with respect to any of their children if:
      1. it can be shown that the continued exercise of the targeted rights by that parent would beyond reasonable doubt cause significant harm to their children,
      2. all voluntary and less restrictive means of harm reduction have been exhausted, and
      3. the children and their parent(s) are informed about the rights that have been removed and the duration of their removal.

Co-author: Tinhampton

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• Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
• Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
• Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
• Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.

Boston Castle:

Clause 2 is just virtue signaling which accomplished nothing in this context.

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Tinhampton:

In what regards?

(Co-author here.)

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Boston Castle:

How is any of it enforceable?

[It here = clause 2]

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simone_republic:

Present. I don't disagree with the principles involved, but most Tinhampton resolutions nudge the WA towards something run by AOC or Jeremy Corbyn, which I vehemently oppose.

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Pallaith:

Against

I would note the title of the thread appears to be inaccurate.

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