Concluding Observations Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 para 42 Full recommendation: In light of its general comment No. 12 (2009) on the right of the child to be heard, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt and implement legislation recognising the right of the child to be heard in all relevant legal proceedings by establishing systems and/or procedures for social workers and courts to comply with the principle. It also recommends that the State party conduct programmes and awareness-raising activities to promote the meaningful and effective participation of all children within the family, the community and schools, including within student council bodies, with particular attention to girls and to children in vulnerable situations. Assessment using Impact Iran indicators1 A. Adopt and implement legislation recognising the right of the child to be heard in all relevant legal proceedings by establishing systems and/or procedures for social workers and courts to comply with the principle Access to justice is guaranteed in Iran under Article 34 of the Constitution, which states that: “It is the indisputable right of every citizen to seek justice by recourse to competent courts. All citizens have the right to access such courts, and no one can be barred from courts to which he has a legal right of recourse.” 2According to the Iranian Civil Code, all persons are entitled to civil rights but nobody can utilise and employ these rights unless they possess the legal capacity to do so.3 Only children over the age of 15, who are legally deemed mature, may bring a case to the courts unassisted, however,4 all other children need to bring cases through their legal guardian.5 The father’s consent is needed to initiate legal proceedings, except where the father is the person against whom a complaint is made or he is unavailable to provide his consent.6 Another major obstacle to justice for children in Iran is access to legal aid. The Constitution of Iran (Article 35) grants everyone the right to select a lawyer and states that if a person is unable 1 Indicators used: CRC.12.2.S.1; CRC.12.2.P.1; CRC.12.2.O.1 Impact Iran submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, review of the 3rd and 4th periodic reports of the Islamic Republic of Iran: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/countries.aspx?CountryCode=IRN&Lang=EN 3 Civil Code art. 958. 4 Civil Code, art. 1210 5 Ibid. 6 For example see art. 1172 of the Civil law. The Guardianship of the child is fully explained in this article: Guardianship in Iranian Law, Hakime Mohammadi, Published August 23, 2014, available at http://mehrkhane.com/fa/ news/12585/ 2

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