scholarly journals Beyond the Life Sentence – A Children’s Rights Lens on Sentencing for Murder

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 972-1005
Author(s):  
Yannick van den Brink ◽  
Nessa Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
The Public ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Legitimate Interest ◽  
Life Sentence ◽  
The Common ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Compliant Approach

Abstract Children around the world who have been found responsible for murder continue to be sentenced to indeterminate or long periods of detention. This is in contravention of children’s rights standards which urge a ban on the life sentence and require that detention is used only for the shortest appropriate period of time. Nonetheless, the public and victims of crime have a legitimate interest in the protection of public safety and appropriate accountability for serious offending. Further, there is little guidance on what a rights compliant approach in such cases might involve. This work builds on previous studies of how children are sentenced for murder across the common law world and extends the analysis to a selection of European civil law jurisdictions. It explores and applies recent updated guidance from the Committee on the Rights of the Child and seeks to develop a framework for a children’s rights and human rights compliant approach to such cases.

Children's Rights

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Staller
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Parens Patriae ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right ◽  
Family Autonomy

Children's rights can refer to moral rights—basic human rights regardless of age or station—and legal rights, those awarded based on chronological age or level of maturity. They are conceptualized in three categories: protection rights (the right to be free from harm and exploitation), provision rights (the right to have their basic needs met), and participation rights (the right to have a say). Children's rights can conflict with family autonomy, and state intervention is based on the common law doctrine of parens patriae. The UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most comprehensive statement of children's rights to date.

Beyond Victimhood

2021 ◽  
pp. 73-96
Author(s):  
Richard P. Hiskes
Keyword(s):  
Children's Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Public Agency ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Us ◽  
First Time

The 1990 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been ratified by all nations except the United States. The reasons for the US refusal have to do with national sovereignty and the alleged conflict of children’s rights with the rights of parents. Both are explored here. The CRC advances children’s rights by making protection and provision rights universal for all children, but also by adding the “third P,” rights of participation. Rights of participation (Article 12) in decisions that affect them give children for the first time the public agency to be heard in decision-making forums concerned with protecting the “best interests” of the child. Allowing children into the public realm challenges Arendt’s insistence that child security must keep them in the private sphere and away from politics.

The Magic of the Atelier "Tales of the Rights of the Child"

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
Viara Gyurova
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Common Experience ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Common

The great French educator of the first half of the 20th century, Celestin Freinet, said that in order to learn something, it must be experienced. The ateliers (workshops), conceived by him as a form of joint practical and creative work of children in primary school, are just such an opportunity for common experience of ideas and problems, for learning in the process of work - with others and from others, for the common achievements and for the joy of the success. Today the ateliers are held with children / students and adults on various topics. They look like interactive seminars or group work (workshops). The main part of it is the experience, the variety of changing activities, the overall "product", the emotion.In this case, the atelier on children's rights are a way and opportunity to return to childhood, to look at children's rights through the eyes of the child, through the magic of the fairy world and through the problems of today's reality of children. And to consider whether, as adults, we are really doing the best for children, in the name of their highest interests.

Framing Asymmetry: Devolution and the United Kingdom’s Four Children’s Commissioners

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osian Rees ◽  
Jane Williams
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
United Nations Convention

The United Kingdom’s four children’s commissioners, established under separate legislation for Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, are amongst the best known of the public institutions created since the beginning of devolved government in 1999. Like many such offices around the world, they are the result of domestic political and social processes as well as the influence of the requirements of international human rights treaties, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Different processes in the four countries have produced differing remits and emphases, but each commissioner is in part a response to concerns about the vulnerability of children in difficult circumstances. The commissioners’ activities include vigilance over the access of such children to support, in particular support for getting their voices heard. The commissioners have also developed prominence on the international stage as independent children’s rights institutions and all have been active in promoting children’s participation in social accountability for human rights implementation. This article explains the commissioners’ different roles and remits and examines ways in which they contribute to accountability for human rights implementation in the political, administrative, legislative, judicial and social spheres. It concludes by suggesting that their status as both “children’s champion” and independent children’s rights institutions is likely to assure their long-term endurance in the still-evolving process of constitutional change in the uk.

scholarly journals A maturing manifesto: The constitutionalisation of children’s rights in South African jurisprudence 2007-2012

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 646-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sloth-Nielsen ◽  
Helen Kruuse
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
The Public ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right ◽  
Resource Mobilisation ◽  
Point Of Departure

This article represents the next in a series of five-year overviews of children’s rights in the courts in South Africa. Using the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Welfare of Children as a point of departure, the study suggests that it is in the public sphere that children’s rights have had their most impact in the period under review. The article highlights eight areas of distinction in this five-year period: these include judicial approval of resource mobilisation for the fulfilment of children’s rights, emphasis on the quality of and standards in education; the development of innovative remedies to deal with unreasonable state measures affecting children, and an increasing focus on the right to dignity of the child. The authors conclude that the scope of the cases cited points to the growing insertion of children’s rights considerations in increasingly diverse areas of legal interaction. Furthermore, the authors posit that the CRC and ACRWC – together with non-binding sources of international law – have substantively informed and enriched the jurisprudence of South African courts.

The Role of Children’s Rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 207-224
Author(s):  
Barbara Bennett Woodhouse
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Positive Rights

Chapter ten compares the threats to sustainability of social environments identified in the prior chapter with the existential threat of climate change. The author calls for a similar transformation of macrosystemic that shapes out social and political worlds. She proposes adopting ecogenerism, which treats the welfare of future generations as a its paramount vale, as the agent of transformation. To guide in defining children’s essential needs and rights, and to measure progress in creating a wordl fit for children, the author proposes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as the most broadly accepted normative framework. The author introduces the rights protected by the CRC, first in child-friendly language and then using the more complex language and interpretive tools of human rights law. The author highlights various innovative CRC principles that can change play a role in transforming the ecology of childhood. They include: viewing the best interest of the child holistically as protecting the full range of children’s rights; bridging the public/private divide by clarifying children’s positive rights to social welfare supports; and integrating the science of child development into the scheme of human rights.

UN-BLURRING THE MYTHS AND REALITIES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
T N Sithole ◽  
Kgothatso B Shai
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Great Awareness ◽  
Policy Theory ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Status ◽  
Customary Practices

Awareness of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW 1979) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC 1989) is relatively high within academic and political circles in South Africa and elsewhere around the world. In South Africa, this can be ascribed mainly to the powerful women’s lobby movements represented in government and academic sectors. Women and children’s issues have been especially highlighted in South Africa over the last few years. In this process, the aforementioned two international human rights instruments have proved very useful. There is a gender desk in each national department. The Office on the Status of Women and the Office on Child Rights have been established within the Office of the President, indicating the importance attached to these institutions. These offices are responsible for co-ordinating governmental efforts towards the promotion and protection of women and children’s rights respectively, including the two relevant treaties. Furthermore, there is also a great awareness amongst non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in respect of CEDAW and CRC. This can be ascribed mainly to the fact that there is a very strong women’s NGO lobby and NGOs are actively committed to the promotion of children’s rights. Women are increasingly vocal and active within the politics of South Africa, but the weight of customary practices remains heavy. The foregoing is evident of the widening gap between policy theory and practice in the fraternity of vulnerable groups – children and women in particular.

The Health Rights of Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 366-385
Author(s):  
Ursula Kilkelly
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Health Rights ◽  
Missed Opportunity ◽  
Specific Health

Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognizes the child’s right to health and health care. Despite its importance, surprisingly little international advocacy focuses exclusively on child’s health. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has addressed health and health care issues in many of its General Comments, but it has been surprisingly slow to adopt a General Comment dedicated to Article 24. There has also been an apparent disconnect between children’s rights law and the global development agenda. While the UN Sustainable Development Goals address many of children’s specific health needs, they do not mention the CRC and are not framed in rights terms. Although progress continues in advancing Agenda 2030, it is not clear whether greater progress would have been possible were these goals expressed as a matter of children’s rights. Overall, this process appears to be a missed opportunity to advance the child’s rights to health.

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.

The Interrelated and Interdependent Nature of Children’s Rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-98
Author(s):  
Savitri Goonesekere
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Global Agenda

The chapter analyses children’s human rights as universal norms and standards incorporated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that are relevant in diverse national contexts. Discussing national experiences and the quasi-jurisprudence of treaty bodies, the chapter argues that understanding the interrelated nature of the different groups of rights in the CRC is essential for effective implementation of these rights. It is suggested that the concept of the indivisibility of human rights and the global agenda of sustainable development reinforce the need for this approach. The chapter also discusses the interdependence, compatibility, and conflict between children’s rights and the human rights of other groups, such as parents, women, and a community with which a child connects as he or she grows to adulthood. The chapter argues that incorporating children’s rights in national constitutions, rather than ad hoc legislation, encourages this holistic approach to implementing children’s rights.

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