Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ratify imminently Optional Protocol 3 to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child relating to a communications procedure; and if not, why.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Optional Protocol 3 has not, to date, been signed and ratified by the UK government. States are not required to sign up to the Optional Protocols when they ratify the UNCRC.

The government believes effective domestic laws already exist where individuals can seek enforceable remedies if their rights have been breached. It is possible for an individual to challenge any government decision in the domestic courts if their rights have been breached, and this includes breaches of children’s rights under the UNCRC.