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Dr.

Helmut Sax

E-Mail
uryzhg.fnk@yot.np.ng
Telefon
+43 1 4277-27424
Human Dignity and Public Security Member – Austrian Children’s Rights Board (Kinderrechte-Board) Steering Committee Member – Child-Friendly Justice European Network (CFJ-EN) Lecturer – Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, University of Vienna
E-Mail
uryzhg.fnk@yot.np.ng
telefon
+43 1 4277-27424
Human Dignity and Public Security Member – Austrian Children’s Rig… Steering Committee Member – Chil… Lecturer – Department of Constit…

Helmut Sax has been a Senior Researcher at the LBI-GMR since 1995. His research focuses on children’s rights, trafficking in human beings and human rights monitoring. In addition to his research activities, he holds several national and international expert positions. He is an expert member of the Austrian Children’s Rights Board (Kinderrechte-Board), established by the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Family in the Federal Chancellery. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the Child-Friendly Justice European Network (Brussels), is a board member of the Austrian Child Rights Network (National Coalition), and an expert member of the Austrian Task Force against Human Trafficking. Previously, he was a member of the Expert Commission on the Best Interests of the Child in Asylum Proceedings in Austria (Kindeswohlkommission), established by the Austrian Ministry of Justice in 2021. From 2011 to 2018, he served as a member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), including as Vice-President from 2013 to 2014.

Helmut completed his law degree at the University of Vienna in 1993 and earned his doctorate in law in 2017 with a dissertation on domestic violence against children, focusing on international standards and child protection systems in Austria. He has served as a consultant for the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, UNICEF Austria, public authorities, and civil society organizations. He also lectures on children’s rights and trafficking in human beings at the University of Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna, and in national and international Master’s programmes.

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Research Focus

Children’s rights, child participation, child access to justice, child protection systems, child trafficking, deprivation of liberty, trafficking in human beings, human rights monitoring

Publications

2026

  • Sax, Helmut; Mandl, Sabine; Rabenlehner, Stephen: ENSURE Project – Ensuring Access to Intermediaries for Children with Disabilities in Legal Proceedings: Nationaler Bericht – Österreich, 2026.

2025

  • Sax, Helmut; Alemi, Maryam; Beclin, Katharina; Duzdar, Natacha; Hof, Robert; Neururer, Christian: Das FORMA-Projekt: Ein Lagebericht zur Zwangsverheiratung in Österreich, in: SIAK Journal, 2025.
  • Sax, Helmut; Berger, Ernst: Kinderpflegegeld als effektives Kinderrecht?, in: Recht der Medizin, 2025.
  • Sax, Helmut: „Nicht gleich die Panik haben und durchdrehen …“ – Kein krisenfester Kinderschutz ohne Kinderrechte. Erkenntnisse eines Forschungsprojekts mit jungen Menschen, 2025, S. 307ff.
  • Sax, Helmut: Menschenrechte und Verfassungsrecht, in: Loderbauer, Brigitte (Hrsg.), Kinder und junge Menschen im Recht, 2025.

2024

  • Sax, Helmut; Alemi, Maryam; Beclin, Katharina; Duzdar, Najwa; Hof, Rebecca: FORMA: Lagebericht Zwangsverheiratung in Österreich. Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Grund- und Menschenrechte, 2024.
  • Sax, Helmut; Weber, A.; Sperber, C.; Benjes-Pitcz, H.: Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie und nachfolgender Krisen – Erkenntnisse für krisenfeste Kinderschutzsysteme: Trainingshandbuch: Ausgabe für Österreich. Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Grund- und Menschenrechte, 2024.
  • Sax, Helmut: EU-Projekt CARES (2022-24) Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie und nachfolgender Krisen – Erkenntnisse für krisenfeste Kinderschutzsysteme. Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Grund- und Menschenrechte, 2024.
  • Stavrou, Konstantina; Sax, Helmut: Open Source and User-generated Evidence in the Context of „Trafficking in Human Beings“, 2024.

2023

  • Sax, Helmut: Einsperren ist keine Lösung – Persönliche Freiheit als Kinderrecht – Alternativen zu Freiheitsentzug und Freiheitsbeschränkungen in Österreich, 2023, 110 S.
  • Sax, Helmut: Kinderhandel und grenzüberschreitender Kinderschutz, in: Archiv für Wissenschaft und Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit, 2023, S. 68–73.
  • Sax, Helmut: Wie krisenfest ist das Kinderrecht auf Bildung? Qualitätsfaktoren für eine resiliente Schule!, in: SchulVerwaltung aktuell Österreich, 2023, S. 25–27.

2022

  • Paganini, Claudia; Sax, Helmut: Umfassende Realisierung von Kinderrechten – Option 16_07, in: Allianz Nachhaltige Universitäten in Österreich (Hrsg.), UniNEtZ – Universitäten und Nachhaltige Entwicklungsziele, 2022.
  • Sax, Helmut: „Zugang zum Recht“ für Kinder als Betroffene effektiv gewährleisten – Strukturpaket Kinderrechte!, in: Allianz Nachhaltige Universitäten in Österreich (Hrsg.), UniNEtZ – Universitäten und Nachhaltige Entwicklungsziele, 2022.

2021

  • Sax, Helmut: Kinderrechte – Es braucht unabhängiges Monitoring statt schönreden und schwurbeln!, in: Helige, Barbara (Hrsg.), Menschenrechtsbefund 2021, Österreichische Liga für Menschenrechte, 2021, S. 6–7.

2020

  • Planitzer, Julia (Hrsg.); Sax, Helmut (Hrsg.). A Commentary on the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. [Buch]
  • Sax, Helmut; Nowak, Manfred (Hrsg.); Steinert, Fiona (Hrsg.); Tretter, Hannes (Hrsg.): Schutz mit System? – Internationale kinderrechtliche Standards zum Schutz von Kindern vor Gewalt in der Familie und ihre Umsetzung in Österreich, 2020. [Buch]
  • Sax, Helmut. 2020. Some observations on the anti-trafficking field – Two decades since Palermo and we are still missing the wood of exploitation and injustice for the trees of anti-trafficking, Open Democracy/Beyond Trafficking and Slavery.
  • Vavrik, Klaus; Sax, Helmut; Winter, Renate: Medikamentöse Freiheitsbeschränkung bei Kindern und Jugendlichen – Diskurs aus kinderrechtlicher Sicht, in: iFamZ, 2020, S. 266–273.

2019

  • Birk, Moritz; Randazzo, Silvia; Sax, Helmut: Children Deprived of Liberty in the Administration of Justice, in: The United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, 2019: 246–339.
  • Damm, Lilly; Sax, Helmut: Kinderrechte im Gesundheitswesen – die Sicht der Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschaften und der Patientenanwaltschaften in Österreich, in: Das Gesundheitswesen, 2019, S. 1–5.
  • Sax, Helmut; Suntinger, Walter: All Human Rights for All. Wie eine Weltkonferenz ein junges Institut mit Energie füllt, in: Hladschik, Patricia; Steinert, Fiona (Hrsg.), Menschenrechten Gestalt und Wirksamkeit verleihen. Making Human Rights Work. Festschrift für Manfred Nowak und Hannes Tretter, 2019, S. 297–305.

2018

  • Sax, Helmut: Sag, wie hältst du es mit Kinderrechten an deiner Schule? Der Kinderrechte-Index, in: SchulVerwaltung aktuell – Fachzeitschrift für Schulentwicklung und Schulmanagement, 2018, S. 46–47.

2017

  • Sax, Helmut: Child trafficking. A call for rights based integrated approaches, in: Routledge Handbook of Human Trafficking, 2017: 251–261.

2014

  • Dimitrova, Kamelia; Malangone, Alexandra; Mancheva, Mila et al.; Sax, Helmut (Hrsg.): Strukturen und Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung betroffener Kinder in Österreich und im EU-Vergleich, 2014. [Buch]

2004

  • Sperl, Lousie; Lukas, Karin; Sax, Helmut: Wirtschaftliche, soziale und kulturelle Rechte von AsylwerberInnen, 2004. [Buch]

1999

  • Sax, Helmut: Die verfassungsrechtliche Umsetzung der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention in Österreich, hrsg. von Hainzl, Christian, 1999. [Buch]
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Recent research projects

  • Focus area Trafficking in Human beings – research cooperation with the Principality of Liechtenstein

    In the course of this project, the LBI-GMR is conducting research on human trafficking from a human rights perspective in cooperation with the Principality of Liechtenstein.

    To the project

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

    The EU-co-funded project “ENSURE” aims to improve communication with children with disabilities at court, particularly during criminal proceedings.

    To the project

  • Practical Handbook on Children’s Rights – The Austrian Federal Constitutional Law on Children’s Rights and its Significance in the Daily Work of Professionals

    The project aims to raise awareness of children’s rights in Austria and facilitate their practical implementation. A comprehensive handbook will be compiled containing legal principles, international and European developments and practical examples of application.

    To the project

  • Making children’s rights a reality – Foundations for education and training

    The project focuses on promoting a more in-depth examination of children’s rights in legal practice in Austria.

    To the project

  • Advancing Alternatives to Migration Detention through Raising the Quality of the ‘Risk Of Absconding’ Decision-Making – A Pilot Project

    The project aims at strengthening alternatives to migration detention that can better protect the dignity and rights of people on the move.

    To the project

  • Vienna Human Rights City – Expert Consulting 2024/24

    With the expert support of our institute, Vienna celebrates ten years as a “City of Human Rights” as well as the tenth anniversary of the Human Rights Office.

    To the project

  • Just Ask the Children

    The project aims to develop a practical participation format for the target group together with children and young people.

    To the project

  • Strengthening Child Protection in German International Development Cooperation

    The project aims to examine the significance of child protection (based on a children’s rights approach) and explore opportunities for expansion within the framework of German development cooperation.

    To the project

  • CARES: Child-centered and Accessible crisis-Response for an Effective protection System

    The CARES project analyses current developments such as the COVID pandemic, inflation and consequences of the war in Ukraine with a focus on children and their experiences.

    To the project

  • Forced marriages – Stock-taking for effective policies against forced marriages in Austria

    Grounded in a human rights-based approach the project – for the first time in Austria – undertakes a multi-dimensional stock-taking effort, including legal analysis and examination of root factors for forced marriages, in order to develop a set of policy measures for decision-making bodies, administration and victim protection agencies.

    To the project