Methodology

By means of the pro justitia report an expert advice will be given from both a behavioural and children’s rights perspective indicating the best interest of the child in migration law.

The BIC-model (Best Interest of the Child-Model) is the basis for conducting a diagnostic pedagogical assessment. It offers a method to identify the quality of the rearing environment of the child and to compare it to alternative rearing situations. Decision-making which is in favour of the best quality of the rearing environment offers the child chances to prosperous development and is in the best interest of the child. A decision taken on the basis of the above principles is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

To be able to identify the quality of the rearing environment we developed the Best Interest of the Child – Questionnaire (BIC-Q). The BIC-Q can be filled in from the perspective of the professional, the parent and the child. In addition to the BIC-Q the child itself gives its own opinion about the quality of its environment by means of a Best Interest of the Child – Self report (BIC-S). We thus comply with the demand that children have the right to give their voice in all procedures and all measures they are involved in, which is in accordance with Article 12 of the UNCRC.

The realisation of pedagogic diagnostic assessments is in accordance with the General Comment no. 14 on Article 3 of the UNCRC. The General Comment is an interpretation tool regarding Article 3 UNCRC which was published by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2013.