ENSURE – Ensuring Access to Intermediaries for Children with Disabilities in Legal Proceedings

Research Topic & Roadmap

The EU-co-funded project “ENSURE – Ensuring Access to Intermediaries for Children with Disabilities in Legal Proceedings” (March 2025 to February 2027) aims to improve communication with children with disabilities at court, particularly during criminal proceedings. This is to be achieved in particular through the involvement of qualified support persons – so-called intermediaries. The project supports the implementation of both children’s rights and the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as current EU objectives to strengthen child protection systems and promote access to justice for children with disabilities.

The project focuses on developing and piloting models for intermediaries acting as bridges in communication between children with disabilities and the justice system in order to overcome existing structural barriers and ensure equal participation.

Although support models already exist in some countries, there is a lack of formal regulations, standardised procedures and qualified training in relation to children with disabilities. ENSURE addresses this gap and contributes to the further development of inclusive and child-friendly justice systems.

Project activities are carried out in Austria, Romania and Serbia, with expert contributions and exchanges of experience from Hungary, Spain and Ireland.

Research Focus

Objectives of the project

• Reduce communication barriers in legal proceedings involving children with disabilities, in particular in criminal proceedings
• Further develop the roles of intermediaries, support persons, and special representatives for children with disabilities.
• Strengthen coordination between justice systems, child protection and support services
• Support the building of capacity and awareness among justice professionals, social services and inclusion specialists
• Promote accessible, inclusive, child-centered legal procedures
• Provide recommendations for national and EU-level frameworks

Research Methods

ENSURE combines practice-oriented and participatory research approaches. Activities include establishing an international disability expert advisory board, producing national reports on existing roles and models (such as legal and psychosocial counsellors, interpreters, expert witnesses) and compiling an international synthesis report. Based on these insights, model rules will be developed and adapted to national legal frameworks through national reflection processes.

Internal online workshops, a training pack and curriculum, as well as three national workshops in Austria, Romania, and Serbia will provide professionals with practical tools to work effectively with intermediaries.

The findings will be disseminated through an international conference, two public webinars, a policy brief aimed at professionals and decision-makers and an international expert board.

• Project title: ENSURE – Ensuring Access to Intermediaries for Children with Disabilities in Legal Proceedings
• Project Consortium: International Commission of Jurists – European Institutions (ICJ-EI) – International (Lead), Validity Foundation (Validity) – International, Terre des Hommes (TdH) – Romania, Child Rights Centre (CRC) – Serbia, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) – Austria
• Project Team LBI-GMR: Helmut Sax (Project Lead), Sabine Mandl
• Funding Body: EU-Commission, CERV-2024-Daphne
• LBI-GMR Research Group: Human Dignity and Public Security

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.