Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-sixth session

11-29 September 2017

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the fifth periodic report of Denmark

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 16 June 2017. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

1.Please indicate whether the State party has considered withdrawing its reservation to article 40 (2) (b) (v), in particular with regard to the right to appeal court decisions.

2.Please provide information on measures taken to incorporate the Convention into national law so that the Convention can be given full effect and so that it can be invoked before and given effect by the domestic courts. Please also provide information on efforts made to raise awareness about the Convention among judges, lawyers, prosecutors and public officials.

3.In the light of reports that children’s knowledge of their rights and of the Convention has been decreasing in recent years, please provide information on measures taken to raise children’s awareness of the Convention throughout the State party, including through the school curriculum.

4.Please provide information on measures taken to address hate speech in the State party.

5.Please provide information on measures taken to reduce the number of children deprived of a family environment and placed in alternative care in Denmark, and to improve the conditions in boarding schools in Greenland. Please inform the Committee of any action taken in follow-up to the 2016 Auditor General’s report on alternative care.

6.Please inform the Committee on measures taken to facilitate the integration of children with disabilities into society and what initiatives have been undertaken to eliminate disability-specific discrimination and to bring national laws into compliance with the Convention in that regard. Please also provide information on measures taken to protect children with disabilities, especially those in care institutions, from abuse and violence.

7.Please explain how the new amendment to the Psychiatry Act of 2015 has improved the legal standing of children below the age of 15 years who may still not have access to remedy and whether children are informed about their rights as patients. Please also provide information on the reasons for the reported increase in the number of children with learning and behavioural disorders treated with psychostimulant drugs.

8.Please inform the Committee on measures taken to address the root causes of child poverty in the State party, including in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

9.Noting that refugees with temporary protection do not have the right to apply for family reunification until three years after their recognition as refugee, please explain how the 2016 amendments to the Danish Aliens Act respect the best interests of the child and the right of the family to be reunited.

10.Please inform the Committee of any reforms being undertaken to further improve the treatment of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (see CRC/C/DNK/CO/4, para. 58 (a) and (b)), please also provide information on measures taken to ensure that unaccompanied children who disappear from asylum centres are not subject to trafficking or exploitation and that their protection needs are addressed.

11.Please inform the Committee of whether a mechanism has been put in place to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to not forcibly return asylum-seeking children and their families to countries of origin where there is a risk of them being subjected to torture or persecution.

12.In the light of the absence of a specialized juvenile justice system, please explain what efforts the State party is making to ensure that judges dealing with children in conflict with the law are specialized in the subject matter. Please also inform the Committee of the reasons for amending the Penal Code to remove the eight-year upper limit for prison sentences issued to persons below the age of 18 years.

Part II

13.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

14.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

15.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on:

(a)Children living in poverty;

(b)Children in migrant and refugee situations;

(c)Children and adolescents who abuse substances and alcohol;

(d)The number of reported cases of children subjected to involuntary admission and treatment in psychiatric institutions.

16.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic location regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment, for the past three years, on the number of:

(a)Children living in alternative-care settings;

(b)Unaccompanied children disappearing from asylum centres;

(c)Children subjected to sexual abuse.

17.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographic location, for the past three years, on the number of children with disabilities:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

18.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have become outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

19.In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.