Pro Bono Children Europe (PBCE) is a program developed under the CLEAR-Rights project framework by PILnet and L’Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH) and currently operated as a working group of the European Pro Bono Alliance. Under this program, the European Child Justice Clearinghouse (ECJC) facilitates access to free quality legal assistance for NGOs working with children and their clients, including those working across borders, providing help with EU-wide legal research, operational legal needs, representation, legal drafting, legal translation, and more.
PBCE supports the advancement of child-centered justice by:
- Matching cross-border requests for pro bono legal assistance related to children’s rights, including EU-wide legal research, operational legal needs, representation, legal drafting, legal translation, etc., via its clearinghouse mechanism;
- Facilitating the organization of capacity building, such as workshops and training for legal practitioners and NGOs, especially in cross-border scenarios related to children’s rights;
- Awareness-raising among stakeholders and information sharing, particularly on transnational challenges and good practices recommendations; and
- Convening and promoting cooperation and exchange among clearinghouses, lawyers and NGOs, including facilitating long-term partnerships or collaborations on specific projects.
How It Works
Steps to Get Help
Support for Lawyers
The PBCE also supports lawyers who will provide this pro bono legal assistance related to children’s rights by facilitating the organization of capacity-building sessions for lawyers and NGOs in the field of child justice and awareness-raising among stakeholders and information sharing.
If you are interested in getting involved and participating in a capacity-building session, express your interest here. Below are helpful tools for lawyers in this field and other resources related to children’s justice in Europe.
Tools for Lawyers
Recommended Minimum Accreditation Criteria for Lawyers Defending Children in Conflict with the Law
(available in English, Magyar, Français, and Română)
Quality Standards for Legal Assistance for Children Suspected or Accused of a Crime
Other Resources
European Review of Practices and Gaps in Legal Aid Systems for Children
(available in English and Magyar)
Practices & Gaps in the Legal Aid System for Children in Hungary
(available in English and Magyar)
Benchmarking of Existing Online Pro Bono Platforms
Are you a lawyer looking at EU legislation and local court cases on the rights of children in conflict with the law? Check out our factsheet database at CHILD Lex: https://www.child-lex.cfjnetwork.eu/hu/search
How Can We Help You
This work is supported by the CLEAR-Rights project, co-funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme. It aims to improve access to a lawyer for children suspected or accused of a crime, through strengthening access to quality and specialized government-funded legal aid and pro bono legal assistance in line with Articles 6 and 18 of Directive 2016/800/EU.
The “CLEAR-Rights: Enhancing legal assistance and access to justice for children in conflict with the law in Europe” project is implemented under the lead of Terre des hommes Regional Office in Hungary in partnership with PILnet (Hungary), Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights (France), Terre des hommes Romania, Defence for Children The Netherlands, and Defence for Children International Belgium.
Learn more about PILnet’s children’s rights program and AADH’s programs
All information submitted is confidential, and will only be shared with your approval. Once you complete the form, an ECJ-CH staff member will contact you to discuss the details of your legal needs and to help you prepare a request for pro bono assistance. The ECJ-CH team will circulate this request for assistance to the legal professionals within our national, regional, and global pro bono networks. Once we have identified a match for your legal needs, a staff member will connect you directly to the volunteer lawyer or firm and facilitate their engagement. All work assigned through this clearinghouse is free of charge.
CLEAR-Rights Safeguarding Policy PBCE Data Protection Notice
The content of this webpage and the legal support provided represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
