"I am glad that we have finally managed to take a big step forward in this matter.

The Czech Republic is one of the last countries in the European Union where there is no Children's Ombudsman [1]. The legal protection of children needs to be strengthened, in practice there are still situations where in some cases the advocacy of children's rights is stagnating," says Minister for Legislation Michal Šalomoun, adding: "We are thus correcting the deficiencies that we have towards children and respect for the observance of their rights as the Czech Republic. This is also a continuation of good practice in the countries around us, where the Children's Ombudsman has been in place for a long time. I would like to express my appreciation for the factuality and open approach of the members of the working group [2] in the debate during the drafting of the amendment. As a result, we have discussed important issues regarding the powers and competencies of the future Ombudsman for Children, how he should be selected or who could become one. We then thoroughly discussed all these issues during the settlement of the comments and at the Legislative Council of the Government, which dealt with the amendment at the end of February." The amendment to the Act on the Public Defender of Rights establishes the status and independence of the future Children's Ombudsman as well as the scope of his powers. It proposes a model of two independent ombudsmen – the Children's Ombudsman and the current Public Defender of Rights, within the existing Office of the Public Defender of Rights. It could be a person over 35 years of age with a law degree who has been involved in the protection or promotion of children's rights for at least 5 years during the previous 10 years. The amendment also allows judges, especially those who hear custody disputes, to apply for the position of Ombudsman of Children's Rights. The amendment to the Act brings a completely new competence to the Children's Ombudsman, which would allow him/her to intervene in certain proceedings concerning the protection of children's rights in strictly defined cases." As a lawyer, I have personal experience with this and I see this matter as innovative, but very necessary. Let's recall, for example, the case of an 11-month-old boy who was abandoned by his mother after giving birth and who was handed over to hospitals in various parts of the Czech Republic for many months, and OSPOD was inactive for a long time. And yet the boy could have long since found a home in a foster family. I estimate the number of these cases to be in the lower tens per year, and these are exactly the ones we want to prevent with our amendment. "Other powers of the Children's Ombudsman should include educational activities about the rights of the child and monitoring compliance with children's rights." The maturity of a society is recognized by the way we take care of the weakest. And in the case of children who find themselves in a complicated situation and either have no one or, on the contrary, there is a dispute over their care, today we as a state do not always sufficiently defend their rights. This law is intended to help these children to have a happier childhood and then an easier entry into adulthood," says Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Olga Richterová, who also participated in the working groups and debates on the amendment. In the Czech Republic, children are rarely heard. They are often absent where their rights are decided, and the most vulnerable and vulnerable are now falling through a fragmented system. It will be the task of the Children's Ombudsman to change that. To ensure that children are not talked about without children and do not have to wait long for support and advocacy," says Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, another member of the working group of Czech Human Rights Minister, adding: "We have been striving for the establishment of a Children's Ombudsman in the Czech Republic for decades, and it is great news that today we are significantly approaching this goal." The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has long urged the Czech Republic to establish a children's ombudsman on the basis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in the former Czechoslovakia in February 1991. Debates about the creation of this position have been going on for several years without result. That is why the Minister for Legislation, Michal Šalomoun, has taken it upon himself to finalize this matter and has convened a working group consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Labor and Social Affairs, representatives of the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, the Human Rights Commissioner, and deputies and senators across political parties. Notes:[1] In the European Union, only four Member States do not have a Children's Ombudsman. In addition to the Czech Republic, there are also Germany, Austria and Portugal. [2] Negotiations on the emerging text of the amendment to the Act on the Public Defender of Rights have been ongoing since 24 November 2022, when the working group of the Minister for Legislation Michal Šalomoun met for the first time.  The meeting was attended by current and former Human Rights Commissioners Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková and Helena Válková, as well as the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová and the Vice-Chair of the Chamber of Deputies Olga Richterová. Other representatives included Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Zuzana