States should focus their attention on removing social, economic and juridical barriers so that children can in practice have access to effective judicial mechanisms without discrimination of any kind. Children and their representatives should be provided with information about remedies through, for example, the school curriculum, youth centres or community-based programmes. They should be allowed to initiate proceedings in their own right and have access to legal aid and the support of lawyers and legal aid providers in bringing cases against business enterprises to ensure equality of arms. States that do not already have provision for collective complaints, such as class actions and public interest litigation, should introduce these as a means of increasing accessibility to the courts for large numbers of children similarly affected by business actions. States may have to provide special assistance to children who face obstacles to accessing justice, for example, because of language or disability or because they are very young. Age should not be a barrier to a child’s right to participate fully in the justice process. Likewise, special arrangements should be developed for child victims and witnesses in both civil and criminal proceedings, in line with the Committee’sgeneral comment No.12. Furthermore, States should implement the Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime. Confidentiality and privacy must be respected and children should be kept informed of progress at all stages of the process, giving due weight to the child’s maturity and any speech, language or communication difficulties they might have. The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography requires that States enact criminal legislation that also applies to legal entities, including business enterprises. States should consider the adoption of criminal legal liability – or another form of legal liability of equal deterrent effect – for legal entities, including business enterprises, in cases concerning serious violations of the rights of the child, such as forced labour. National tribunals should have jurisdiction over these serious violations, in accordance with accepted rules of jurisdiction. Non-judicial mechanisms, such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration, can be useful alternativesfor resolving disputes concerning children and enterprises. They must be available without prejudice to the right to judicial remedy. Such mechanisms can play an important role alongside judicial processes, provided they are in conformity with the Conventionand the Optional Protocols thereto and with international principles and standards of effectiveness, promptness and due process and fairness. Grievance mechanisms established by business enterprises can provide flexible and timely solutions and at times it may be in a child’s best interests for concerns raised about a company’s conduct to be resolved through them. These mechanisms should follow criteria that include: accessibility, legitimacy, predictability, equitability, rights compatibility, transparency, continuous learning and dialogue. In all cases, access to courts or judicial review of administrative remedies and other procedures should be available. States should make every effort to facilitate access to international and regional human rights mechanisms, including the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, so that an individual child or a group of children, or others acting on his/her/their behalf, are able to obtain remedy for State failure to adequately respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in relation to business activities and operations. C.Policy measures States should encourage a business culture that understands and fully respects children’s rights. To this end, States should include the issue of children’s rights and business in the overall context of the national policy framework for implementation of the Convention. They should develop guidance that explicitly setsout government expectations for business enterprises to respect children’s rights in the context of its own business activities, as well as within business relationships linked to operations, products or services and activities abroad when they operate transnationally.This should include the implementation of zero-tolerance policies for violence in all business activities and operations. As required, States should signpost and encourage adherence to relevant corporate responsibility initiatives. In many contexts, small and medium-sized enterprises represent a large part of the economy and it is particularly important that States provide them with readily available tailored guidance and support on how to respect children’s rights and comply with national legislation while avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens. States should also encourage larger companies to use their influence over small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen children’s rights throughout their value chains. D.Coordination and monitoring measures 1.Coordination Full implementation of the Conventionand the Optional Protocols thereto requires effective cross-sectoral coordination, among government agencies and departments and across different levels of government, from local to regional and central. Typically, the departments and agencies directly involved with business policies and practices work separately from departments and agencies with direct responsibility for children’s rights. States must ensure that governmental bodies, as well as parliamentarians, that shape business law and practices are aware of the State’s obligations with regard to children’s rights. They may require relevant information, training and support so that they are equipped to ensure full compliance with the Convention when developing law and policy and entering into economic, trade and investment agreements. National human rights institutionscan play an important role as catalysts for linking different governmental departments concerned with children’s rights and with business. 2.Monitoring States have an obligation to monitor violations of the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto committed or contributed to by business enterprises, including in their global operations. This can be achieved, for instance, through: gathering data that can be used to identify problems and inform policy; investigating abuses; collaborating with civil society and national human rights institutions; and making business accountable publicly by using business reporting on their impact on children’s rights to assess their performance. In particular, national human rights institutionscan be involved, for example in receiving, investigating and mediating complaints of