Response to the European Commission Call for Evidence: Action Plan on the Protection of Children Against Crime

The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) welcomes the development of an EU Action Plan on the protection of children against crime. The proposed scope is important because it recognises that children may be harmed by crime, recruited into crime, exploited through crime, or come into contact with justice systems due to behaviour shaped by coercion, grooming, control, fear, unmet need, exclusion or constrained choice. his aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which requires that all children are treated with dignity (Article 40), that their best interests are a primary consideration (Article 3), and that they have the right to be heard and influence decisions affecting them (Article 12).