Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Liechtenstein under article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography *

1.The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 2 June 2023. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

2.Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, socioeconomic background and urban or rural residence, for the past three years, on the number of:

(a)Reported acts of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as well as other forms of exploitation, including the sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism industry and online sexual exploitation, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, including the prosecution of perpetrators and the sanctions imposed on them;

(b)Children trafficked to or through the State party and children trafficked within the country for the purpose of sale, prostitution, engagement in forced labour, illegal adoptions, organ transfer or pornography as defined in article 3 (1) of the Optional Protocol;

(c)Children offered, delivered or accepted by whatever means for the purpose of prostitution, engagement in forced labour, illegal adoptions, organ transfer, pornography or marriage;

(d)Children who have been victims of such acts who have received assistance with reintegration or received compensation.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to establish a centralized system for the compilation of data on child protection under the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information about the resources specifically allocated for the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

4.Please explain measures taken:

(a)To develop a comprehensive policy and strategy covering areas under the Optional Protocol;

(b)To coordinate activities aimed at implementing the Optional Protocol;

(c)With reference to paragraph 64 of the State party’s report, to ensure that the Association for Human Rights in Liechtenstein or the Office of the Ombudspersons for Children and Young People addresses offences under the Optional Protocol and provides information on the results of its work in this respect;

(d)To train professionals working with and for children, including social workers, lawyers, law enforcement personnel and judges, about the provisions of the Optional protocol and about how to prevent and how to report cases of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography to the competent authorities.

5.Please provide information on measures taken, in addition to awareness-raising campaigns:

(a)To identify, support and monitor children who are at risk of falling victim of the offences covered by the Optional Protocol, especially children in vulnerable situations;

(b)To promote online safety among children and alert the relevant actors and stakeholders to the risks faced by children through the Internet, including by monitoring the Internet for illegal content at the national level and cooperating with other countries in combating child sexual abuse material;

(c)To combat the online sexual exploitation of children and the dissemination of child sexual abuse material, including in application of paragraph 219 of the Criminal Code.

6.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to define and criminalize the sale of children separately from the offence of human trafficking and clarify whether all the offences covered by the Optional Protocol are defined and included in the Criminal Code.

7.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to remove the requirement of double criminality and implement extraterritorial jurisdiction over all the offences referred to in the Optional Protocol.

8.Please inform the Committee about the criteria established and applied by the State party to implement the child’s right to be heard in matters relating to offences under the Optional protocol.

9.Please also inform the Committee of measures taken to duly protect children who are victims and witnesses of crimes under the Optional Protocol, including by providing access to legal aid to all children and other services in one safe space, such as the barnahus (children’s house) or similar child-friendly and multidisciplinary one-stop centres that are known by and accessible to children.