key principles

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The Code's option was to select the key principles that shape the legal system of child rights in Guinea-Bissau.

Some of the principles are directly contained in international conventions, such as the principle of the best interests of the child or equal opportunities and non-discrimination, others may result indirectly from the international framework, but are inspired by other legal systems, such as the principles of absolute priority or subsidiarity.

Finally, there may apparently be a lack of principles in Part I that are both rules and as such are addressed in the Code. This is the case of the right to life and development, which could have been enshrined as a principle, but which, given the coherence of the Guinean system, namely the way it is enshrined in the Constitution, seemed more appropriate to be provided for as the fundamental right of children in Part II.

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• Principle of the best interests of the child;

• Principle of equality and non-discrimination;

• Privacy principle;

• Principle of parental responsibility;

• Family prevalence principle;

• Principle of the primacy of the continuity of deep psychological relationships;

• Principle of minimum intervention, proportionality and adequacy;

• Principle of preference for community-based measures over formal processes.

• Principle of exceptional placement in institutions;

• Principle of access to justice and effective jurisdictional protection;

• Principle of dignity and compassionate treatment;

• Principle of mandatory information;

• Principle of hearing the child and participating;

• principle of subsidiarity

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