The child's right to be heard and to have their opinion taken into account

Abstract

This work includes the analysis of one of the core rights in the UN CRC of 1989, the right of the child to express their views freely and being given due weight, as reflected in its art. 12, which has led to numerous legislative reforms and determined substantial changes in the application of the Law by the Courts, both internationally and nationally. As it serves to identify the best interests of the child from the perspective of the fullest exercise of their fundamental rights, this right inolves guiding character of all others, based on the premise of the child's ability to form his or her own judgment and create their own opinions about matters that affect them. Therefore, his analysis is especially fruitful and illustrative of the role that the Declaration of the Rights of the Child has played in the evolution of law in the last thirty years.