scholarly journals “Done Because We Are Too Menny”

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 700-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
The Status ◽  
Welfare Reforms ◽  
Law Making

Among a swathe of major welfare reforms, one has received little academic attention – the two-child rule, restricting claims for key benefits to a maximum of two children. In negating the status of specific children within the framework of subsistence benefits, the measure clashes profoundly with a series of international legal obligations. In particular, the rule is set to increase child poverty, calling into question the role and purpose of the un Convention on the Rights of the Child (un crc) in the law-making process. This paper explores problematic recent decisions that risk creating a human rights chasm when it comes to children and social security rights, and argues that existing legal provisions can and should be used to fill that gap. It finds no evidence that the best interests of the child were a primary consideration in the enactment of the two-child rule, and argues that the justificatory narrative of welfare decadence is manifestly without reasonable foundation. If the un crc does not bite here, then we must question whether children have any social security rights at all.

The Best Interests of the Child

2020 ◽  
pp. 203-221
Author(s):  
Wouter Vandenhole ◽  
Gamze Erdem Türkelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
European Court ◽  
Elusive Concept

The best interests of the child principle is considered a pillar of children’s rights law and, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is to be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children. Yet best interests is an elusive concept and principle that has no single authoritative definition or description. Internationally and domestically relevant in such diverse areas as family law, adoption, migration, and socioeconomic policymaking, the best interests principle requires flexibility and is best served by a case-by-case approach, as has been recognized by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the European Court of Human Rights. This chapter analyzes relevant international case law and suggests the use of a number of safeguards to prevent such requisite flexibility from presenting a danger of paternalism, bias, or misuse.

Working Toward Recognition of the Rights of Migrant and Refugee Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 674-695
Author(s):  
Sarah Paoletti
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Rights Of The Child

This chapter addresses the rights of migrant and refugee children who increasingly are forced into migration, either alone or with members of their family, due to violence, civil war, poverty, economic degradation, and other often-intersecting factors. While addressing the rights and obligations set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international and regional human rights instruments, the chapter further seeks to bring attention to the complexity and fluidity of migration and the motives that spurn migration; the role of family in serving the child’s best interests; and the scope of considerations that must be accounted for in seeking to ensure that the next generation of immigrants is positioned to thrive.

Unaccompanied migrant youth in the Nordic countries

2019 ◽  
pp. 235-256
Author(s):  
Hilde Lidén
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Unaccompanied Minors ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Migrant Youth ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Human Rights Standards

This chapter explores the ambiguities and changes in regulations concerning unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors within, as well across, the Nordic countries, with regard to the gap between restrictions, new policies and practices on one hand, and the human rights standards set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in immigrant-related legislation on the other. The chapter focuses on Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The chapter draws on research combining studies on documents and legal analyses (human rights conventions, national laws, regulations and court cases); an analysis of quantitative data from immigration authorities to identify particular areas of concern; and qualitative research, including fieldwork and interviews with unaccompanied minors, staff in reception centres, legal guardians and immigration authorities. The chapter highlights the growth in the discourse and policy of stricter immigration regulations over the best interests of the child.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the CRC: Is There a Legal Obligation to Cooperate Internationally for Development?

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Vandenhole
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Human Rights Treaties

AbstractSeveral provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child contain references to international cooperation, sometimes in combination with a reference to the needs of developing countries. This article explores whether these references, in light of the interpretation given by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and of other human rights treaties which contain similar wording (in particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Disability Convention), amount to a legal obligation to cooperate internationally for development in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. While it is not possible to establish the existence of a legal obligation to provide development assistance in general – which would amount to an extraterritorial obligation to fulfil – legal obligations to respect and protect economic, social and cultural rights of children in third countries do apply. Moreover, the CRC Committee has clarified some specific obligations of fulfilment for donor countries, such as, amongst others, the allocation of 0,7 per cent of GDP to development assistance, and the adoption of a rights-based approach to development cooperation, in which children's rights are mainstreamed.

Strengthening the Monitoring of and Compliance with the Rights of the African Child

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-390
Author(s):  
Robert Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
African Child ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
International Human ◽  
African Charter ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
Monitoring Practice

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is a progressive human rights instrument by international human rights standards. The provisions of theunConvention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter are contrasted, noting stronger African provisions for the child’s ‘best interests’, stronger safeguards in areas of traditional or ‘cultural’ practices, and provisions concerning the ‘duties’ of the child and its implications for the child’s empowerment. Additionally, the African oversighting Committee holds stronger mandates than exist for theunCommittee on the Rights of the Child. However, reporting and monitoring practice by states parties and the oversight mechanism fall well short of such obligations and mandates. The paper proposes a range of measures to better ensure the rights of the African child, and their importance for the rights of all children and in advancing the international human rights treaty system.

scholarly journals International adoption: lex adoptio and the plurality of connecting factors

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-21
Author(s):  
Kseniya Olegovna Trinchenko
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Adoption ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Hague Convention ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Intercountry Adoption ◽  
Conflict Of Laws ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
European Court ◽  
Substantive Law

This article analyzes the substantive law and conflict of laws law of such countries as Austria, Venezuela, Germany, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Spain, Canada (Quebec), Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, as well as bilateral agreements on legal aid, case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which demonstrates the presence general principles of law, as well as the principle of protecting the weaker party to the legal relationship, the principle of observance of best interests of a child established by the universal multilateral international agreements: Convention on Human Rights of 1950, Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The author examines the relevant issues of the conflict of laws regarding the manifestation of the conflict of jurisdictions, plurality of connecting factors in regulation of a set of private law relations associated with international adoption. The result of the conducted research consists in formulation of a special statute of adoption (lex adoptio), analysis of its legal nature and scope. In the context of examination of the procedure for establishing international adoption, the author identifies the problem of dépeçage (different issues within a single case are governed by the laws of different jurisdictions). A classification is provided to the combinations of plurality of connecting factors established by the legislation of foreign countries, as well as multilateral international agreement – the Inter-American Convention on Conflict of Laws Concerning the Adoption of Minors of 1984).

Customary Human Rights Law

2019 ◽  
pp. 129-160
Author(s):  
Steven Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
New Information ◽  
The Status ◽  
Law Making

Chapter 5 looks at customary human rights law, explaining how we can think about custom as a self-organizing system, the emergent property of the performative acts of states, who literally ‘speak’ customary human rights into existence; customary law then binds the same countries that brought it into existence, exhibiting the characteristics of a complex system. Complexity serves to remind us of the importance of path dependence, the power of events, and possibilities of change as states respond to new information. The work shows how the measures targeting apartheid South Africa after the Sharpeville Massacre resulted in the first customary human right on the prohibition of racial discrimination, as well as an evolution in the methodology for custom-formation, allowing reference to General Assembly resolutions and law-making treaties. The chapter further demonstrates how the status of persistent objector was denied to apartheid South Africa, confirming the non-negotiable character of fundamental human rights.

scholarly journals A imposição da guarda compartilhada como regra no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro: um paralelo com a Doutrina da Situação Irregular

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Freitas Paixão ◽  
Ana Paula Motta Costa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Legal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Joint Custody ◽  
International Convention ◽  
System A ◽  
Rights Of The Child

O artigo busca traçar um paralelo entre a imposição da guarda compartilhada pela Lei 13.058/2014 e a Doutrina da Situação Irregular que estabelecia a forma como os direitos das crianças e dos adolescentes eram tutelados pelo Estado antes da Convenção Internacional sobre os Direitos da Criança. Para tanto, mostrará que, empesar da boa intenção do legislador, a imposição incondicional da guarda compartilhada pode configurar uma afronta à Doutrina da Proteção Integral, em especial ao Princípio do Melhor Interesse da Criança e do Adolescente, e um retorno aos principais pensamentos que embasavam a Doutrina da Situação Irregular.Title: The imposition of joint custody as a rule in the Brazilian legal system: a parallel with the Irregular Situation DoctrineAbstract: The article seeks to draw a parallel between the imposition of shared custody by Law 13.058/2014 and the Irregular Situation Doctrine which established how the rights of children and adolescents were protected by the State prior to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. This study will demonstrate that, in spite of the good intentions of the legislator, the unconditional imposition of joint custody can constitute an affront to the Integral Protection Doctrine, especially to the Principle of the Best Interests of Children and Adolescents, and a return to the main thoughts that embase the Irregular Situation DoctrineKeywords: human rights of children and adolescents; principle of the best interests of children and adolescents; joint custody; irregular situation docrtine; integral protection doctrine

scholarly journals 1979: a Year of the Child, but Not of Children’s Human Rights

Diplomatica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-220
Author(s):  
Linde Lindkvist
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Status

This article explores the diplomatic contestations over children’s rights in connection to the International Year of the Child (iyc) of 1979. At the time, the Year was celebrated as an outstanding success, an event which helped to heighten social and political awareness of the status of children in both developing and industrialized countries, and which brought to light a plethora of new global issues, including street children, children with disabilities and children in armed conflict. Today, the iyc is frequently reduced to a plotting point in histories charting the rise of an international discourse of children’s rights, a discourse that is intimately linked to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. This article shows how the concept of children’s rights was of peripheral importance to the overarching purposes of the iyc, which instead revolved around a notion of child welfare as integral to wider projects of social and economic development, either in the form of economic sovereignty or basic needs. The article then revisits the 1978–1979 UN debates on a human rights treaty for children, showing how this project initially garnered minimal support among states, international agencies and non-state actors. The article thus takes issue with teleological accounts that see the iyc primarily as a first step toward the subsequent breakthrough of children’s human rights. It also showcases how historical case studies of UN observances can be fruitful for scholars interested in the clashes and amalgamations of competing concepts and projects at an international level.

scholarly journals Juvenile Justitia and the protection of children’s rights in Europe: the practice of the European Court of Human Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (68) ◽  
pp. 167-185
Author(s):  
Mykola Bondaruk ◽  
Serhiy H. Melenko ◽  
Liubov Omelchuk ◽  
Liliya Radchenko ◽  
Anzhela Levenets
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
European Court ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
The Status

The objective of the research is to analyze the main violations of children's rights within the European Convention on Human Rights to highlight the basic positions of the European Court of Human Rights ECHR on their protection, as well as to determine the advisability of applying the practice of this court by the European states. The methodological basis of the work consists of different methods, such as analysis and synthesis, dialectical, logical-legal and formal-legal. The result of this work allowed identifying the role of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of European law and its importance for the protection of the rights of the child, interpreting the legal positions established in the pertinent decisions of the said court and comparing them, to justify the need for your careful observation of the practice of the ECHR in the application of the law. It is concluded that the practice of the ECHR is recognized as a source of law in most states. And although the Ukrainian legal tradition does not recognize the status of judicial precedent as a source of law, such precedents are actively used in everyday legal activity.

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