Chapter 6: The Role of the NHRI in Germany

Across the world, the number of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) has increased significantly over the last 40 years. NHRIs play an important role in the promotion and implementation of human rights, and since 2002 the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has supported the establishment of such bodies in Member States who have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC). In 2004, the State Party Germany received the recommendation to establish a permanent national mechanism to coordinate the implementation of the UN CRC. This recommendation was put into effect in 2015 with the mandate of the German Human Rights Institute to independently monitor the implementation of the UN CRC in Germany.

This chapter focuses on the role that the German National CRC Monitoring Mechanism plays in the promotion and advancement of children’s rights in Germany. In particular, it examines the documents published by this body, including shadow reports, position papers and other reports. The author concludes that the cooperation between local, Länder (German federal states), and Federal governmental level has room for improvement, as it reflects the demands for change in the legislation to include children’s rights at a constitutional level and other non-legal measures, which would elevate children’s participation beyond consultancy and toward real political influence.