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this assistance is primarily aimed at the development of the child and of the youngster within his familial and social environment. The Children’s Rights Service (In French : Services droit des jeunes – S.D.J.) fight for a society which would be more respectful of children’s rights, and also more respectful of the rights of youngsters and their families. We also want to prevent their social exclusion.
our Services acknowledge the competence and the capacities of the people who consult them and we want them to use and develop their competence and capacities The Services use every effort to enable them to better understand their legal and social environment and the interaction of the former with the latter in order to help them to make choices and to act with full knowledge. The Services endeavour to improve the legal and social status as well as the environment of children and youngsters. They also act together in order to provide a global solution to individual problems and they plead the children’s and youngsters’ cause with the political, social, and administrative authorities or with other associations. They also inform or question those authorities on matters within their competence. In matters where the Services have acquired or are acquiring a specific knowledge they aim to share this knowledge with other institutions They share their knowledge regarding the resolution of individual problems and they organise training-courses, study-days, publications, or other activities.
The legal dimensions of the situation are shown and explained. At the request of the applicants the Services offer to accompany them when they have to undertake steps (as explained under point 4). The way to accompany the applicant will be established by mutual agreement with the representative of the Service. The Services offer applicants the facility to discuss their case with the competent authorities, and this includes filing a claim in court.
The Services respect every person ; from the start and at any moment, they stress the importance of listening to the applicant. In co-operation with the child or the youngster, the family or the next of kin, the representative will decide which one of them will be the applicant. The service will do its utmost to ensure that the child or the youngster becomes the privileged applicant ; in any case the child or youngster will always be the most important beneficiary of the intervention. After discussion with the representative the applicants will decide which goal they will set and the way to reach this goal, be it the judicial way or not. By mutual agreement with the representative of the Service we will decide how to cooperate with the applicant; this representative will always be the person to contact within the framework of the Service. At any moment in time the child or the youngster is entitled to reject any further assistance. Assistance by the Service is free of charge. A copy of every sent or received document concerning the applicants will be sent to them by the Service. The representatives of the Service as well as all the co-workers are subject to professional secret. Nevertheless, every application or request may be discussed with other members of the team in order to facilitate the solution of the problem, but within the framework of a strict professional secret. A representative may refuse to deal with an application or a request if it is not compatible with his professional conscience. In this case, having secured the permission of the applicants, he may refer the application to another representative of the Service.
They do not claim to be a substitute for other public or private welfare institutions which are already active in this field and equally competent to address this kind of applications. They assist applicants who request help to obtain the service they are entitled to and they ensure that the applicants’ rights are respected. The Children’s Rights Service do not refer applicants to another service if the request is within range of their competence. If it is necessary to refer applicants to another service, they will at the request of the applicants assist them in every way so that the applicants receive the help they claim.
Their educational project has been made available to every applicant. The non-profit organisations mentioned hereafter have signed this charter. They are members of the Association of Children’s Rights Service which is authorised to regularly evaluate their missions and the execution of same. Every non-profit organisation endeavours to offer a permanent training to their representatives, within the framework of the organisation as well as outside the organisation. One can easily identify them by their logo and the appellation “Service Droit des Jeunes” The articles of association of the Association of Rights of Minors Offices have been published in the Belgian State Gazette of 15 September 1988. |
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In the course of the first months and years the methods of the C.R.S. have changed : starting with technical support to lawyers we have moved on to a more educational approach with regard to young applicants and we have emphasised co-operation with one another to achieve a common goal. our range of activities has been broadened, starting with the defence of minors and moving on to other types of problems like social exclusion. The following problems still make great demands on the C.R.S.’s time : refusal of social assistance by the Social Welfare Centre, expulsion from a school or the school’s refusal to accept a youngster, intervention by the juvenile judge, familial difficulties, stay permit of young foreigners, …
In France, in Lille and Strasbourg, other C.R.S. have adopted the same methodology. Every Service droit des jeunes has taken the form of an autonomous non-profit organisation. They are subsidised by the French Community as organisations which contribute in a non-compulsory way to assisting young people in their living environment.
Within this framework the services endeavour to fight against social exclusion and promote self-reliance of youngsters and their families. The C.R.S. offer their public to choose a solution which corresponds with their goals : they inform people on different possible legal actions in order to solve a problem, duly empowered by power of attorney of their applicants, they intercede with private persons or institutions, they start legal procedures … the Children’s Rights Service are active in the social services sector. Therefore they are different from the “Centres Infor-Jeunes” (youth information centers), from the service for juveniles of the bar associations or from the legal boutiques even if they share the same legal tools and work for the same age group. The C.R.S. refer people to those institutions if their application does not fit in the educational project described in their charter. This policy of referral shows that under no circumstances the C.R.S. would want to take the place of other existing services but on the contrary wants people to benefit from those services.
there are C.R.S., manned by lawyers and social workers in Brussels, Liège, Namur, Mons, Charleroi, Arlon and Nivelles. The youngsters and their families can contact the C.R.S. by telephone or by going to the C.R.S. offices with a referral by various services like the service for assistance to youngsters, P.M.S. centres, a social worker from the Social Welfare Centre or by a friend. Sometimes the assistance given is limited to information about legal regulations regarding the application of the youth or his family. Or it consists of a discussion of possible alternatives, steps to be taken in order to solve the problem... Sometimes more extensive assistance will be offered if a particularly complex problem must be solved or if an applicant finds himself in dire straits because of his problem. From time to time an applicant needs help with a judicial procedure. Collective action in dealing with problems encountered by applicants it becomes clear that our society does not function well : archaic or inadequate legislation, rights not guaranteed, poor or wrong application of the law, professionals who are not always conscientious of their mission,… Every situation raises thousand-and-one questions. The multiplication of interventions in individual situations becomes harassing when one has to walk the same “warrior path” again and again, while all the time the problems which are at the basis of such situations are not solved. Because of the multiplication of those situations we have decided to adopt a more global approach : this is our communal action. Because of the very significant increase in exclusions by schools, we want all the principal actors in the world of education to sit at the table with us so that a broad debate can be provoked. The non-existence of laws regarding foreign unaccompanied minors urges us to demand the creation of a law which respects the fundamental rights of those children. We are continually preoccupied with the place of minors in the judicial system, both their right to be heard during every procedure which concerns them, as well as their right to act autonomously in order to defend their rights.
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