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WQ.369/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY DEPUTY L.M.C. DOUBLET OF ST. SAVIOUR ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 20th OCTOBER 2020
Question
Will the Chief Minister state, in respect of Children's Rights Impact Assessments (C.R.I.A.s), what steps he will take to ensure that C.R.I.A.s are undertaken on any future Covid-related policies and legislation and will he confirm where any such C.R.I.A.s will be published?
Answer
Completion of a Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) will become a mandatory part of our process to develop legislation and policy once the due regard' law, which will indirectly incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Jersey's domestic legislation, comes into force in 2021.
Under Article 25 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2019, Ministers are already required to consult with the Children's Commissioner, when preparing, "any enactment directly concerning children or young people." Prior to the introduction of a mandatory CRIA process, all Covid legislation affecting children and young people will benefit from the Children's Commissioner's expert guidance.
The current priority of the small team leading our work on children's rights is to develop the legal framework for all the measures that will be introduced by the due regard law, including CRIA. The template and guidance for the Jersey CRIA process are currently under development, with support from the Children's Commissioner. A programme of training will be established to support Members and Officers to integrate the CRIA process into their work.
Jersey's CRIA process will commence with an initial screening' step to quickly establish if the policy area in question has any potential positive or negative impacts on children. If the likelihood of impacts is identified, this step will be followed by detailed assessment and prediction of the way in which the identified policy options are expected to impact children and children's rights; thus allowing potential enhancements or mitigations to be devised. A full CRIA process should include consultation with children and other stakeholders including the Children's Commissioner.