• The executive plays a crucial role in legislative reform (and the subsequent implementation). It initiates, drafts, reviews and, ultimately, implements and evaluates legislation, as part of its obligation to implement the CRC.
• Most of the effort in shaping legislation occurs before a proposal is presented to the legislature.
• The executive should draft and propose legislation, applying a CRBA.

Children’s rights legislative reform should be undertaken in coordination with all relevant government sectors.

• The CRC Committee believes that effective implementation of the CRC requires, among other things, visible cross-sectoral coordination to recognise and realise children’s rights across government and between different levels of government (CRC GC 5, para. 27).
• Although States may have different levels of government: national, regional and local governments and cities (see Local and regional governance section, below), States Parties’ obligations under international human rights law extend to all levels and branches (OHCHR, Cities, local and regional governments and human rights).
• Therefore, States Parties will need to undertake cross-sectoral coordination when they carry out children’s rights legislative reform.
• According to the CRC Committee, it may not be practicable to bring responsibility for all children’s rights matters into a single governmental department; this may even marginalise children’s rights.
• A special unit, if given high-level authority, or a dedicated minister or ministerial coordinator acting on behalf of the national government, cabinet or president can contribute to the overall purpose of making children more visible in government and ensuring respect for children’s rights across the government and at all its levels (CRC GC 5, para. 39), including in the legislative reform process.
• In light of the growing attention being paid to children’s rights mainstreaming, each governmental actor should be aware of its role in realising children’s rights in a comprehensive manner. This also applies to legislative reform, which should aim for the implementation and incorporation of children’s rights to the fullest extent (see also section WHY; see also UN Secretary General 2023; Eurochild 2014 and Council of Europe).

In general, the executive also sets the budget for the legislative reform process and the implementation of legislation (once legislation is adopted).

• Legislative reform and the subsequent implementation of legislation through policies and institutional development require an adequate and often substantial allocation of funds from governments.
  • Prioritising children’s rights in budgets, at the national and subnational levels, as required by the CRC, contributes to the realisation of these rights and to long-lasting positive impacts on future economic growth, sustainable and inclusive development, and social cohesion (CRC GC 19, para. 12).
  • States should take all children’s rights into consideration in all stages of the budgeting processes and administrative systems at the national and subnational levels (CRC GC 19, para. 13).
  • Legislation, policies and programmes cannot be implemented without the mobilisation of sufficient financial resources, allocated and spent in an accountable, effective, efficient, equitable, participatory, transparent and sustainable manner (CRC GC 19, para. 11).

In many legal systems, the executive presents the proposed legislation to the legislative power (e.g. parliament), which has the power to approve, amend or reject the proposal.

Once the legislature approves the proposed legislation, the executive enacts and/or promulgates the legislation.

• How this function in practice depends on the relationship between the legislative and executive function within the existing system of government.
  • In democracies, three models can be distinguished: parliamentary systems, presidential systems and hybrid systems (National Democratic Institute for International Affairs 2000).
  • In parliamentary systems, government promulgation may follow automatically after legislative passage.
  • In presidential systems, the executive (i.e., the president) may have the power to veto legislation.
  • In hybrid systems, legislation approved by parliament may need to be signed off by the cabinet, president or crown.

For the implementation of legislation, the executive can create special agencies to address children’s rights or specific issues linked with children’s rights. The creation of a dedicated agency is also a way of supporting coordination among all actors involved in the design or implementation of legislation.

Naturally, executive/government agencies and organisations or professionals mandated by the government to execute governmental roles and responsibilities play a critical role in the implementation of children’s rights legislation.