Fundamental Rights Section 2.9 The United Nations Human Rights Pacts 2.9.1 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989. In August 1992, Austria ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child with three reservations on its implementation. The UN Convention has therefore the rank of an ordinary federal law with a reservation on its implementation in Austria. As a consequence, it cannot be applied directly by the Austrian courts and authorities. The child and youth ombudsmen and many NGOs dealing with the matter have claimed the integration of the Convention into the Federal Constitution. Each signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child must submit a report on the situation of children's rights to the Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years. The Committee then gives its opinion on the reports submitted. In its last opinion on the report submitted by Austria, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised, among other things, that Austria has not incorporated the Convention into the Austrian Federal Constitution. Austria was recommended to continue and strengthen its efforts with respect to the incorporation of children's rights into the Constitution both at federal and state level. Upper Austria, Vorarlberg and Salzburg have incorporated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into their constitutions. Since the legal representatives of children are responsible for their care and welfare until they attain their legal age and since children therefore have only limited legal autonomy, fundamental rights, which are guaranteed explicitly to adults by constitutional law, do not automatically apply to children and young people. Instead, the dependence of children on their parents and/or guardians often leads to contradictions between the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all people and the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which does not have the rank of constitutional law. An incorporation of children's rights into the Constitution would mean that legal acts infringing children's rights could be appealed against before the Austrian Constitutional Court. The performance of a 'children impact assessment' could prevent laws and regulations from being enacted in the future. Last but not least, the Convention on the Rights of the Child would function as a general guide and interpretation maxim for the entire legislation and the execution of laws. 69