Compendium of Law & Guidance relevant for Barnahus

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Policymakers, legal, social and law enforcement professionals and stakeholders can use this compendium, alone and with the other PROMISE resources, to link their work with the relevant legal provisions for child victims and witnesses of violence at European Union (EU), regional and international level.

The PROMISE Compendium of Law & Guidance (2017) provides a comprehensive overview of the legal framework and authoritative guidance concerning the rights of child victims and witnesses across the EU, Council of Europe and United Nations (UN).

In doing so, the Compendium maps these relevant provisions in key instruments to the PROMISE Barnahus Quality Standards.

It introduces the different bodies of international and European laws and guidances concerning child victims and witnesses of violence. This provides a baseline of the laws involved, their scope and the need to take account of them collectively.

It contains profiles of relevant provisions in key instruments based on a common framework which identifies obligations to provide assistance and support to child victims as well as to ensure specific safeguards for children in criminal investigations and proceedings.

About the author: Ms Rebecca O’Donnell is an Irish lawyer with extensive experience in EU legal and public affairs. Her areas of expertise include fundamental rights, child-friendly justice, child protection, asylum, migration and trafficking policies. She is co-founder of Child Circle, since 2014.  She formerly worked in Save the Children EU Office as a senior child protection adviser and as a partner in the EU office of an international law firm.