The Potential and Promise of Communications Procedures under the Third Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Buck ◽  
Michael Wabwile
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Third ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Inter State ◽  
Policies And Practices

The Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OP3-CRC) presents new opportunities for States and non-state actors/interest groups to advance the cause of children’s rights in the global context. Since international legal apparatus for protecting human rights is generally weak, and depends largely on cooperation and support of States, the best approach would be to explore how to integrate available mechanisms to maximise their impact. OP3-CRC provides the Committee on the Rights of the Child with individual and inter-state complaint mechanisms, and an inquiry procedure regarding ‘grave and systematic violations,’ which may in appropriate cases be applied to contest state policies and practices. We argue that the potential and promise of this new communications/complaints regime can be harnessed through strategic phased implementation, establishing the office of a Special Representative on CRC Communications Procedures and rebranding the Committee in anticipation of its enhanced mandates.

scholarly journals Corporations and Human Rights Obligations

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis G ARNOLD
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Moral Agents ◽  
The Third ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Argument Proceeds ◽  
Policies And Practices

AbstractThe claim that corporations have human rights obligations remains contentious and can be fraught with confusion. This article synthesizes existing corporate human rights theory and responds to objections to the idea that transnational corporations (TNCs) have human rights obligations. The argument proceeds in three stages. The first section describes the different forms TNCs take and explains why TNCs are properly understood as moral agents responsible for their policies and practices. The second section reviews and explains different philosophical theories of corporate human rights obligations. The third section articulates and responds to objections to the idea that corporations have human rights obligations. The main conclusion of this article is that there are multiple, compelling and overlapping justifications of corporate human rights obligations.

Human Rights under State Socialism

1984 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lane
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
The West ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Collective Rights ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Third ◽  
The One

The paper is in four parts. The first outlines the debate that has occurred in the West about whether human rights, and about what human rights, are desirable and possible in socialist states. In the second it is contended that the normative approach to rights in socialist states has been influenced but not determined by the theory and practice of the USSR. Human rights under Marxism–Leninism are ambiguously defined: there is an unresolved tension between individual (and group) rights, on the one hand, and class and collective rights on the other. Socialist states, it is claimed, have different units, types of claims and priorities of rights. In the third section, it is argued that the Soviet model of rights has a particular correspondence with Russian culture. Its impact on other socialist countries (Poland is considered, as an illustration) depends on the internal social structure (the strength of interest groups) and the degree of legitimacy of the state. Finally, some prognostications are offered concerning the dynamics and likely developments of rights claims under socialism.

The New Complaints Mechanism for the Convention on the Rights of the Child

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Egan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Child Friendly

The un General Assembly has recently adopted a third Optional Protocol to the crc, providing for an individual complaint mechanism for children. The product of a sustained campaign on the part of ngos and children’s rights advocates, the Protocol achieves a certain parity of esteem for children vis-à-vis complainants under other core un human rights instruments by enabling them to make complaints specifically with respect to rights guaranteed by the Convention and its two substantive protocols. This article examines the terms of this new procedure in the light of its drafting history and explains why the resulting text has in many respects disappointed in terms of delivering a much-hoped for “child-friendly” complaint mechanism for children.

scholarly journals Mental health, human rights and social inclusion for adults and children

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-73
Author(s):  
Sue Holttum
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
National Study ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Third ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
The Difference

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider three recent papers relating to human rights and applicable to adults or children given mental health diagnoses. Design/methodology/approach – The first paper discussed how to measure progress in different countries in their policy changes to abide by the UN Convention on rights of persons with disabilities, and discussed how all relevant groups could be involved. The second paper considered the problem of children’s rights being eroded by overuse of the mental health diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when they are restless. The third paper reported on an evaluation of how well advocacy services are enabling people who are sectioned to have a say in their care. Findings – When assessing how well countries are doing in ensuring the rights of people with disabilities, the first paper’s authors concluded that all groups must participate in the evaluation, even though there are many different agendas. The second paper reported on how professionals and parents could come to a shared understanding of how children might be wrongly given a diagnosis of ADHD and jointly suggested some solutions. The third paper illustrated how important advocacy is, and the difference it can make to the lives of people who are sectioned. Originality/value – The first paper’s authors are engaged in ground-breaking research to assess whether disabled people’s rights under the UN Convention are being honoured. The second paper raised vital questions about the misuse of diagnosis, contravening the UN Convention on the rights of the child, and illustrated how parents and professionals can come together in support of these rights. The third paper reported on the first systematic national study on the implementation of advocacy services to defend the rights of people who are sectioned to have a say in their care.

The Third Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? – Challenges Arising Transforming the Rhetoric into Reality

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhona Smith
Keyword(s):  
Children's Rights ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
The Third ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Awareness Raising

A third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child completes the raft of international mechanisms for ensuring children’s rights. However, it also raises unique problems particular to children as rights’ holders and putative rights’ enforcers. For example, children may not know of their rights, they may lack the necessary capacity to initiate enforcement actions and they may encounter problems should they perceive their rights as being contrary to parental wishes. Overcoming such problems is fraught with challenges but not impossible. Strong national mechanisms present a partial solution. Long advocated, they offer possibilities for awareness-raising, neutral representation of the child’s interest before courts, committees and tribunals and ensuring a balance is sought, even achieved, between the rights of the child and those of the parents and State.

Armed Groups and Treaty Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine Fortin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
African Union ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Optional Protocol ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Convention Against Torture

Chapter 8 employs the theories identified in Chapter 7 to consider whether it is possible to argue that armed groups are bound by the major human rights treaties. The chapter conducts detailed analysis of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It also examines the main human rights treaties which it argues hold most textual potential to bind armed groups, namely the Convention against Torture, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.

scholarly journals The People’s Inquiry into Detention: Social work activism for asylum seeker rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-114
Author(s):  
Linda Briskman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Asylum Seeker ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Professional Advocacy ◽  
Policies And Practices

In 2008, findings from the People’s Inquiry into Detention were published as Human Rights Overboard: Seeking Asylum in Australia. The People’s Inquiry, led by social work academics in Australia, exposed injustices within Australia’s privatised detention network for asylum seekers and interrogated policies and practices that ensued since mandatory immigration detention was introduced by legislation in 1992. With reference to the global context, the article presents a snapshot of policies and practices revealed by the People’s Inquiry that were considered antithetical to human rights and discusses this extensive undertaking within a broader context of asylum seeker social movements and professional advocacy endeavours that continue as harsh policies escalate. The article speaks to the resilience of the asylum seeker movement, often against the odds, a movement that includes responsive and tenacious professional groups.

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