The Convention on the Rights of the Child was established in the 1980s and is intended for anyone under the age of 18, worldwide. Although many businesses and organizations are positive that the Children's Convention now becomes Swedish law, they at the same time admit that it is ambiguous and difficult to interpret, since it is not written as a law.

- It is not very clear about what is to be applied today, in a Swedish context, in various sectors such as social services, health care and police and more, says Pernilla Leviner, associate professor of public law at Stockholm University and director of the Children's Rights Center.

Uncertainty about interpretation

There are also many question marks about what will happen in the future, says Titti Mattsson, professor of public law at Lund University, who has worked for many years with child rights issues.

- It will be a bit messy going forward. It is generally held, lacks preliminary work, is a little more difficult, with a different legal tradition than the one we are used to. It is a human rights document and it does mean that there is a lot of room for interpretation of the various provisions which leads to some uncertainty as to how it will be used in the future.

Minister of Gender Equality Åsa Lindhagen (MP) understands that many feel insecure but do not agree that there is no preliminary work.

- This is why we have worked to increase knowledge and prepare municipalities, regions and authorities.

UNICEF, Save the Children and the Children's Ombudsman, BO, who all think the law is needed, raise concerns that there will be insufficient knowledge of how to interpret and apply the law in public activities.

The guidance to the law also receives criticism

In November, the government presented a guide to the law to clarify how it should be applied, but it has also received criticism.

- It does not provide concrete guidance for a social services secretary or a judge, but it has been left to the legal practitioner to decide in the individual case. There may be problems with that type of clear guidance not available, says Pernilla Leviner.

Minister for Gender Equality Åsa Lindhagen says that was not really what the guidance was for.

- This guidance is intended to provide support for how to interpret it, not to say exactly what it means.

Here you can read the children's convention: https://unicef.se/barnkonventionen/las-texten#hela-texten