making processes that affect their lives. Similarly, no references are made to the right to participation in the Law on the Protection of Children’s Rights (9/91), enacted especially for the purpose of implementing the UNCRC. Its only provision for children’s participation is in Article 7, which stipulates that special programmes ‘providing useful information and guidance to children shall be included in television and radio programmes.’ [As discussed later in the report, this provision remains unfulfilled.] The Law, as it stands, overwhelmingly focuses on measures to protect children while marginalising the ‘positive’ rights enshrined in the Convention—such as children’s right to be heard, their right to information and their right to participation in the media as well as other political and social affairs of the country. This report now considers legislative and policy instruments originating from, or related to, the focus areas of children’s participation highlighted earlier. Family The key legislative instrument in this focus area is the Family Law (4/2000), which regulates marriages, divorces and child custody matters. In keeping with Islamic principles, the Law states that from the age of seven, children’s views should be taken into account in custody rulings. Until then, courts retain the authority to award a child’s custody to whichever party it sees as serving ‘the best interests of the child’ (Article 40). Article 44 of the same law, however, discriminates between children on the basis of their gender—a clear violation of UNCRC as well as of Article 24 of the Law on Protection of the Rights of the Child (9/91) which stipulates that all children ‘shall be treated equally and humanely’. The Family Law, in contrast, states that ‘if the person who has custody of the child so applies’, the Court can order the child to remain in the said person’s custody until the child is ‘nine years old if a boy; and until the child is eleven years old, if a girl’ [own emphasis]. While it is commendable that there is an explicit legal requirement for children’s views to be taken into consideration, it is unfortunate that the said law should blatantly discriminate between children on the basis of their gender. Until children reach the age of 18, their legal guardianship as well as that of their property, is awarded to the child’s father. Where the chief legal guardian of the child is deceased, Courts retain the authority to decide who should be appointed to the role. While the law states that the courts should consider ‘the best interests of the child’ in making the decision, it does not contain any provisions that require the courts to take the child’s views into account, whatever age they may be at the time of the decision. The Family Court maintains that court officials give due consideration to provide as much information to children as possible in cases that involve them. Efforts are also made to provide a child-friendly environment during hearings. It is also normal practice for court officials to visit children at their homes, to ensure they are safe and also to make them more comfortable in expressing their opinions during court hearings. While these efforts are commendable, the fact that none of the mechanisms are written down and formally adopted as part of the court’s official procedures makes it difficult to assess how uniformly they are applied or how effective they are in practice. 13