The Ombuds Office Children’s Rights Switzerland aims to contribute its extensive knowledge to political discourse in order to strengthen children’s rights and ensure a child-friendly justice system. To this end, in 2024 it participated in numerous bills submitted for consultation, amongst other activities. In the coming year, the political developments concerning the planned enshrining of a non-violent upbringing in the Swiss Civil Code (CC) as well as the next steps taken by the Federal Council regarding the Noser motion for a public ombuds office for children’s rights will be particularly decisive.
With an amendment to the CC, Switzerland is finally tightening up its provisions on child marriage. The revision will further improve existing measures in the Civil Code and strengthen them with special regulations on the non-recognition of child marriages in private international law. In future, courts will be able to rule a marriage void up to an individual’s 25th birthday if they were married as a minor. The main aim is to give the individual in question, but also the authorities, enough time after reaching the age of legal majority to take action to dissolve the marriage if necessary. The Ombuds Office had already participated in the consultation procedure and was heard by the relevant committee last year. In addition, it was involved in the further parliamentary fine tuning in spring with its position paper. The revision is a pleasing development and will strengthen the rights of young people.
Federal Council with inadequate implementation of the Noser motion
On the other hand, the Federal Council’s bill submitted for consultation on the implementation of the Noser motion 19.3633 “Ombuds Office for Children’s Rights” was disappointing. The Ombuds Office played its part by issuing a detailed statement (see blog post from 1 February 2024). The vast majority of parties, cantons and organisations shared the critical view set out in the statement and reject the proposed revision to the ordinance on the promotion of extra-curricular work with children and adolescents (KJFV, Verordnung über die Förderung der ausserschulischen Arbeit mit Kindern und Jugendlichen) as implementation of the Noser motion (see blog post from 10 May 2024). As a result, we remain confident that the Federal Council will still fulfil Parliament’s actual mandate and will prepare a dispatch at legislative level to establish the basis for a public, national and independent ombuds office for children’s rights that is effectively and directly aimed at children.
Enshrining a non-violent upbringing in the CC
With the motion 19.4632 | Enshrining a non-violent upbringing in the CC, submitted in 2022, the Federal Council was instructed to introduce an article into the Swiss Civil Code (CC) which would enshrine the right of children to a non-violent upbringing. Children were to be protected from physical punishment, emotional abuse and other degrading measures. In August 2023, the Federal Council opened the consultation procedure on its draft, to which the Ombuds Office also submitted a statement. On 13 September 2024, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch for the attention of the Parliament, which is pleasing. The relevant parliamentary committee began its deliberations on the bill in November. The Ombuds Office issued a letter reiterating four points it considers important on the matter.
Simplifying and accelerating stepchild adoption
With motion 22.3382 | No unnecessary hurdles in stepchild adoption, Parliament is calling on the Federal Council to revise adoption law. The aim is to simplify and accelerate stepchild adoption in cases where a child has lived with the legal parent and the person willing to adopt, i.e. the intended parent, since birth. The consultation procedure ran until 17 October 2024; the Ombuds Office made use of this opportunity and contributed a response to the consultation procedure. The dispatch for the attention of Parliament is still pending.
Strengthening of childcare outside the family
With the parliamentary initiative 21.403 | Transformation of initial funding into a modern solution, the temporary initial funding – which has already been extended multiple times – is to be replaced and transformed into a sustainable form of support that significantly reduces parental contributions and improves early childhood education, with the goal of enhancing children’s developmental opportunities and improving the compatibility of family and work. In December, the Council of States partially approved a vigorously revised bill put forward by its specialist committee. The bill will now return to the National Council. Here too, the Ombuds Office played a part early on by issuing a statement.
Canton of Zurich aiming to further optimise child and adult protection law
The Ombuds Office has also been involved at the cantonal level, for example during the consultation procedure in the Canton of Zurich for the partial revision of the child and adult protection law of the Canton of Zurich (EG KESR). This law has proven itself in principle since it came into force in 2013, but according to an analysis it has weaknesses. For example, the processes are too complicated and take too long. Here too, the Ombuds Office has contributed its expertise by issuing a statement in support of an improved bill.
The numerous bills and their outcomes show that some improvements have been made to strengthen children’s rights. However, numerous areas still need improvement, such as a lack of specific provisions on the involuntary commitment of minors, the mandatory provisions on appointing legal representation in the case of out-of-home placements or underage victims, insufficient provisions on enforcing hearings in divorce, child protection and education law proceedings, the lack of a legal basis for support measures for care leavers and insufficient binding information obligations for professionals towards children and adolescents, and must continue to be identified by the Ombuds Office.
