Notes

Beyond the federal government's international commitments to the regulatory framework of the European Union, Germany is also party to a slew of international agreements and treaties with varying binding characters. These range from global to European to bilateral in scope.

Under German law, international treaties requiring the consent/participation of the federal law-making institutions pursuant to sentence 1 of Article 59 (2) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz/GG) have the status of statute not requiring assent.

Most laws enacted by international organisations cannot be applied directly within Germany. However, the member states of the respective international organisations are obliged to transpose any obligations arising from such legislation into national law.

With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights along with 10 further human rights treaties, the United Nations has established a catalogue of human rights instruments that are binding on all UN member states as a matter of international law. Some of these treaties are supplemented by optional protocols, which are often used to introduce procedures for individual complaints.

Of particular relevance for children, adolescents and families are, e.g.:

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A binding international agreement which entered into force on 2 September 1990 and was ratified by Germany on 6 March 1992.
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A binding international agreement which entered into force on 3 May 2008 and was ratified by Germany on 24 February 2009.
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted on 18 December 1979, entered into force in 1981 and was ratified by Germany on 10 July 1985.
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which entered into force on 4 January 1969 and was ratified without reservation by Germany on 16 May 1969.

The Council of Europe is pioneering the creation of a binding pan-European regulatory framework for the protection of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. To date, it has issued over 200 conventions and protocols. These include fundamental legal instruments, such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Convention against Torture, and the European Social Charter.

In addition to these, of particular relevance for children, adolescents and families are, e.g.:

• Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which entered into force on 1 August 2014.
• Council of Europe Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, which entered into force on 1 July 2010.

The Hague Conference has had a strong hand in shaping international cooperation on child and family matters with a number of leading global conventions. Germany is party to the following:

• Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children
• Convention of 5 October 1961 concerning the powers of authorities and the law applicable in respect of the protection of infants
• Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
• Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
• Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance

Agreements on the establishment and maintenance of youth offices have been concluded with France, Poland and Greece. With the Czech Republic, Israel and Russia, Germany has concluded corresponding declarations of intent and/or agreements for the implementation of bilateral youth exchanges, which are organised with the support of coordinating offices.

In 2018, Germany and its Israeli partner agreed to establish a German-Israeli Youth Office, which is currently being planned.