Introduction
1.These explanatory notes relate to the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011, which was passed by the National Assembly for Wales on 18 January 2011 and approved by Her Majesty in Council on 16 March 2011. The notes have been prepared by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills in order to assist the reader in understanding the Measure. They do not form part of the Measure and have not been endorsed by the National Assembly for Wales.
2.The notes should be read in conjunction with the Measure. They are not, and are not intended to be, a comprehensive description of the Measure. So where a section or part of a section does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.
3.The Measure gives further effect in domestic law to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols to it.
4.The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“the Convention”) is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. The text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was approved by the Member States of the United Nations on 20 November 1989.
5.On the 16 December 1991, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ratified the Convention and it came into force in respect of the United Kingdom on 15 January 1992.
6.The United Kingdom has also ratified two Optional Protocols to the Convention. The first of these relates to the involvement of children in armed conflict, and the second relates to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
7.Countries that have ratified the Convention are required by article 44(1)(b) of it to report to, and may appear before, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (“the Committee”) every 5 years providing details of their progress towards full implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols. The Committee is established under article 43(1) of the Convention for the purpose of examining the progress made by State Parties towards its implementation. The Committee is composed of ten experts in the areas covered by the Convention, who are elected to the Committee by the States which are parties to the Convention.
8.In January 2004, the National Assembly for Wales constituted under the Government of Wales Act 1998 adopted the Convention as the underpinning basis for its policies concerning children and young people aged 0 to 25 (i.e. including those aged 25) thus reinforcing “Seven Core Aims” it had developed in 2002 in respect of children and young people, based on the Convention. Most of the functions of the National Assembly for Wales constituted under the Government of Wales Act 1998 were transferred to the Welsh Ministers by the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Welsh Ministers are part of the Welsh Assembly Government.
9.When developing its policies concerning children and young people in Wales the Welsh Assembly Government makes reference to two age-groups. Children aged under 11 years old are referred to as “children”, and people aged 11 to 25 years are referred to as “young people”. In this Measure people aged under 18 are referred to as “children” and those aged 18 to 24 (i.e. including those aged 24) years are referred to as “young persons”. This approach has been adopted in order to be consistent with the Convention and with Matter 15.6 in Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006, from which the legislative competence for this Measure is derived.