Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eightieth session

14 January–1 February 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Czechia 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

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 12 October 2018. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

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

(a)Reported cases of the sale of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, transfer of organs or engagement in forced labour, of child prostitution and child pornography, as well as of other forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, including the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators;

(b)Children trafficked from or through the State party and children trafficked within its territory for the purposes of sale, prostitution, engagement in forced labour, illegal adoption, 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 purposes of engagement in forced labour, illegal adoption, organ transfer or marriage;

(d)Child victims of all the offences defined in article 3 of the Optional Protocol who have been given assistance with reintegration or have received compensation.

2.Please provide information on the progress made towards establishing a centralized system for the compilation of data within all the State party’s agencies involved in child protection under the Optional Protocol.

3.Please indicate the measures taken by the State party to prevent children from the age of 16 from engaging in prostitution.

4.Please inform the Committee about the strategies and current action plans that specifically aim to prevent and counter the offences covered under article 3 of the Optional Protocol, in particular the forced labour, sexual exploitation and prostitution of children. Please also report on the human, technical and financial resources allocated to the implementation of these strategies and plans.

5.Please inform the Committee about the mechanism in place to guarantee the coordination of labour inspectors, police and other authorities in charge of protecting children, for the prevention of the offences defined under article 3 of the Optional Protocol, and about the impact of changes to the Timely Intervention System on this coordination.

6.Please provide updated information on the programmes put in place by the State party and by civil society organizations to raise awareness of the Optional Protocol among the general public, among groups of professionals who work with children and among children themselves. Please also report on the steps taken to introduce mandatory training on the provisions of the Optional Protocol for border guards, national police, judges and prosecutors, as well as labour inspectors.

7.Please provide information on the efforts made to establish an ombudsperson for children and on the role of the ombudsperson with regard to the implementation of the Optional Protocol. Please also inform the Committee about the financial, technical and human resources that are planned or allocated to the fulfilment of the ombudsperson’s function.

8.Please inform the Committee about the preventive measures taken to protect children in vulnerable situations from falling victim to the offences covered by the Optional Protocol, especially Roma children, children living in poverty, children living in institutions, children in street situations, children who use drugs, as well as migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking and stateless children. Please also provide information on the measures taken to protect children who use the Internet from falling victim to these offences.

9.Please describe the measures taken to raise awareness among private sector entities, in particular in the tourism and the information and communications technology industries, of how to prevent the offences covered by the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information on the regulatory and other measures taken to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, as well as on related cases that have been tried by the courts of the State party.

10.Please inform the Committee about the 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 classified in the Criminal Code. Please also provide information on the measures taken to protect the best interests of the child at all stages of the legal process.

11.Please provide information on the compensation, short- and long-term physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration services that are available to child victims of the offences defined under the Optional Protocol, including to those who reside irregularly in the State party and those who do not cooperate with the authorities in criminal proceedings. Please further inform the Committee about the measures taken to provide social services to victims of trafficking, following the analysis referred to in the State party’s report (see CRC/C/OPSC/CZE/1, para. 74).

12.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to establish extraterritorial jurisdiction over all the offences referred to in the Optional Protocol when committed by a citizen of the State party abroad or by a person who habitually resides in the State party, and provide information on corresponding cases. Please also report on the measures taken to reduce delays in court proceedings and clarify the legal basis applicable to repatriation.