EU Training for guardians of unaccompanied children

The guardian is an independent person who safeguards a child’s best interests and gen­eral wellbeing and complements the limited legal capacity of the child. The guard­ian acts as a statutory representative of the child in all proceedings in the same way that a parent represents their child. The guardian acts as a link between the child and all other stakeholders with responsibilities towards the child. This operational definition takes into account that the term used, as well as the function and manner of appointment of a guardian, vary in the different Member States. Under EU law, a guardian is sometimes referred to as representative.^[1]