NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An international court should be set up to punish those responsible for child labour and other forms of abuse against children, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the United Nations yesterday.
A court to investigate cases of child labour, child slavery and child marriage is urgently needed amid the current refugee crisis, Brown said at a media briefing ahead of a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The proposed children’s court was among several recommendations Brown brought to the UN as head of the Global Citizenship Commission, a group of political leaders and academics focused on human rights.
Such a court would have the power to oversee cases requested by children and issue legally binding rulings, the group said in a lengthy report.
“We need, in a sense, a civil rights struggle by and on behalf of children because their rights have been neglected in the international community,” said Brown.
Children account for half of the world’s displaced people, he said.
