Abstract
This chapter introduces the general principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It defines “the child” under this law and discusses the usage of age as a sole indicator for offering protection for vulnerable human beings, as well as the dispute over the rights that the unborn child might have. The chapter also discusses the four guiding principles of the Convention: the right to nondiscrimination (Article 2); the principle of the best interests of the child (Article 3); the right to life, survival, and development (Article 6); and the right to participation (Article 12). The chapter further discusses the key rules of interpretation regarding the Convention, including how to apply a “child-centered approach” to matters concerning children and how to balance the rights of the child with the rights of others, including parents.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A (Letter to a Young Person), Re (Rev 1) (2017) EWFC 48 (26 July 2017)
Abramson B (2008) Article 2: the right of non-discrimination. In: Alen A, Vande Lanotte J, Verhellen E, Ang F, Berghmans E, Verheyde M (eds) A commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden
Alderson P, Hawthorne J, Killen M (2005) The participation rights of premature babies. Int J Child Rights 13:31–50
Alston P (1990) The unborn child and abortion under the draft Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hum Rights Q 12:156–178
Artavia Murillo et al (2012) (In Vitro Fertilization) v Costa Rica Preliminary objections, merits, reparations, and costs, judgment, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ser C) No. 257 (28 November 2012)
Barker RS (2016) Inverting human rights: the Inter-American Court versus Costa Rica. Univ Miami Law Rev 47:1–19
Beemyn BG (2005) Making campuses more inclusive of transgender students. J Gay Lesbian Issues Educ 3:177–187. https://doi.org/10.1300/J367v03n01_08
Besson S (2005) The principle of non-discrimination in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Int J Child Rights 13:433–461
Broughton F (2016) Overstepping the mark? Int J Child Rights 24:687–717
Buss E (2009) What law should (and should not) learn from child development research. Hofstra Law Rev 38:13–65
Cattanach v Harrison (2016) 307 FLR 188
Cave E (2014) Goodbye Gillick? Identifying and resolving problems with the concept of child competence. Leg Stud 34:103–122
Criminal Procedure Amendment (Child Sexual Offence Evidence Pilot) Bill 2015 (NSW)
DH v Czech Republic App no 57325/00 (ECtHR, 13 November 2007)
Dimoulias K (2017) At the ‘center’: young people’s involvement in youth centers from design to usage. In: Bishop K, Corkery L (eds) Designing cities with children and young people. Routledge, Oxford
Douglas H, Walsh T (2013) Continuing the stolen generation: child protection interventions and indigenous people. Int J Child Rights 21:59–87
Eekelaar J (2016) Two dimensions of the best interests principle: decisions about children and decision affecting children. In: Sutherland E, Macfarlane B (eds) Implementing Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 99–111
Freeman M (2006) Rethinking Gillick. Int J Child Rights 13:201–217
Freeman M (2007) Article 3 – the best interests of the child. Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden
Freeman M (2012) Towards a sociology of children’s rights. In: Freeman M (ed) Law and childhood studies: current legal issues, vol 14. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 29–38
Gillick v West Norfolk (1986) AC 112
Hafen BC, Hafen JO (1996) Abandoning children to their autonomy: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Harv Int Law J 37:449–492
Hanson K, Lundy L (2017) Does exactly what it says on the tin? A critical analysis and alternative conceptualisation of the so-called ‘general principles’ of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Int J Child Rights 25:285–306
Harris-Short S (2003) International human rights law: imperialist, inept and ineffective? Cultural relativism and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hum Rights Q 25:130–181
Hopkins B (ed) (2005) The Cambridge encyclopedia of child development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
King M, Piper C (1995) How the law thinks about children, 2nd edn. Arena, Aldershot
Lancashire County Council v M (Rev 1) (2016) EWFC 9 (4 February 2016)
Lansdown G, Jimerson S, Shahroozi R (2014) Children’s rights and school psychology: children’s right to participation. J Sch Psychol 52:3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2013.12.006
Law L (2010) Racism and ethnicity: global debates, dilemmas, directions. Pearson Education, London
Lee N (2001) Childhood and society. Open University Press, Gosport
Lundy L (2007) Voice is not enough: conceptualising Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Br Educ Res J 45:927–942
Maurás M (2011) Public policies and child rights: entering the third decade of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 633:52–65
McGuire JK, Anderson CR, Toomey RB, Russell ST (2010) School climate for transgender youth: a mixed method investigation of student experiences and school responses. J Youth Adolesc 39:1175–1188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9540-7
Minister for Health v AS (2004) 29 WAR 517
Mnookin RH (1975) Child custody adjudication: judicial functions in the face of indeterminacy. Law Contempy Probl 39:226–293
Nolan A (2010) The child as ‘democratic citizen’: challenging the ‘participation gap’. Public Law:767–782. ISSN 0033-3565
Nolan A (2013) Economic and social rights, budgets and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Int J Child Rights 21:248–277
Nowak M (2005) Article 6: the right to life, survival and development. In: Alen A, Vande Lanotte J, Verhellen E, Ang F, Berghmans E, Verheyde M (eds) A commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, vol 6. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2007) Legislative history of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, vol 1. United Nations, New York/Geneva, HR/PUB/07/1. Available via OHCHR. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/LegislativeHistorycrc1en.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2017
Organization of African Unity (OAU) (1990) African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 11 July 1990, CAB/LEG/24.9/49
Oršuš v Croatia App no 15766/03 (ECtHR, 16 March 2010)
Peleg N (2013) Children and the capability approach. Int J Child Rights 21:523–542
Peleg N (2018) Marginalisation by the court: the case of Roma children and the European court of human rights. Hum Rights Law Rev 18:111. (forthcoming)
Prout A, James A (1997) A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance promise and problems. In: James A, Prout A (eds) Constructing and reconstructing childhood, 2nd edn. Routledge, London, pp 7–33
Quennerstedt A (2015) Education and children’s rights. In: Vandenhole W, Desmet E, Reynaert D, Lembrechts S (eds) Routledge international handbook of children’s rights studies. Routledge, London
Roper v Simmons 543 US 551 (2005)
Ruhe K M, De Clercq E, Wangmo T and Elger B S (2016) Relational capacity: broadening the notion of decision-making capacity in paediatric healthcare. J Bioeth Inq 13:515–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-016-9735-z
S v Makwanyane (CCT3/94) (1995) ZACC 3
Sandberg K (2015) The rights of LGBTI children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nord J Hum Rights 33:337–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2015.1128701
Scheppers E, van Dongen E, Dekker J, Geertzen J, Dekker J (2006) Potential barriers to the use of health services among ethnic minorities: a review. Fam Pract 23:325–348. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmi113
Shane Re (2013) FamCA 864
Sloth-Nielsen J, Mezmur BD (2009) Out of the starting blocks: the 12th and 13th sessions of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Afr Hum Rights Law J 9:336–352
Solner S (2007) The ‘breakthrough’ of the right to food: the meaning of general comment no 12 and the voluntary guidelines for the interpretation of the human right to food. Max Planck Yearbook U N Law 11:391–415
Sowell ER, Peterson BS, Thompson PM, Welcome SE, Henkenius AL, Toga AW (2003) Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nat Neurosci 6:309–315
Tamir S (2016) Postnatal human genetic enhancement: a consideration of children’s right to be genetically enhanced. Front Sociol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2016.00015. Available via Frontiers in Sociology. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsoc.2016.00015/full. Accessed 31 Jan 2017
Thomas N (2007) Toward a theory of child participation. Int J Child Rights 15:199–218
Thukral EG (2013) Budget for children. In: Nolan A, O’Connell R, Harvey C (eds) Human rights and public finance. Hart, Oxford, pp 139–162
Tisdall EKM (2016) Conceptualizing children and young people’s participation: examining vulnerability, social accountability and co-production. Int J Hum Rights 21:59–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2016.1248125
Tobin J (2006) Beyond the supermarket shelf: using a rights based approach to address children’s health needs. Int J Child Rights 14:275–306. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181806778458103
Tobin J (2009) Judging the judges: are they adopting the rights approach in matters involving children? Melb Univ Law Rev 33:579
Tobin J (2011) Courts and the construction of childhood: a new way of thinking. In: Freeman M (ed) Law and childhood studies. Oxford University Press, Oxford
UN Commission on Human Rights (‘UNCHR’), Draft Convention on the Rights of the Child, Working paper submitted by the chairman, text as adopted at first reading with suggested revisions, 24 Nov 1988, E/CN.4/1989/WG.1/WP.2
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘UNCESCR’), General comment no 15: The right to water (arts 11 and 12 of the Covenant), 20 January 2003, E/C.12/2002/11
UN General Assembly (UNGA), Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol 1577, p 3
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights(2007) Legislative History of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, vol 1, pp 301–313
UN Human Rights Committee (‘UNHRC’), CCPR general comment no 14: article 6 (right to life) nuclear weapons and the right to life, adopted at the twenty-third session of the Human Rights Committee on 9 November 1984
UNCHR, Report of the working group on a draft Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6 April 1988, E/CN.4/1988/28
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Australia, 10 October 1997, CRC/C/15/Add.79
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Australia, 28 August 2012, CRC/C/AUS/CO/4
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Austria, 31 March 2005, CRC/C/15/Add.25131
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Bangladesh, 18 June 1997, CRC/C/15/Add.74
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Benin, 24 August 1999, CRC/C/15/Add. 106
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Cyprus, 7 June 1996, CRC/C/15/Add.59
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, 27 March 2009, CRC/C/PRK/CO/4
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Ethiopia, 21 February 2000, CRC/C/15/Add.146
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Honduras, 24 October 1994, CRC/C/15/Add.24
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Libya Arab Jamahiriya, 4 February 1998, CRC/C/15/Add.84
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Madagascar, 27 October 2003, CRC/C/15/Add.218
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Maldives, 13 July 2007, CRC/C/MDV/CO/3
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Nepal, 21 September 2005, CRC/C/15/Add.261
UNCRC, Concluding observation: Republic of Chad, 12 February 2009, CRC/C/TCD/CO/2
UNCRC, Concluding observation: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 12 July 2016, CRC/C/GBR/CO/5
UNCRC, Concluding observations: Israel, 9 October 2002, CRC/C/15/Add. 195
UNCRC, Concluding observations: Israel, 4 July 2013, CRC/C/ISR/CO/2-4
UNCRC, General Comment no 3 (2003) HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child, 17 March 2003, CRC/GC/2003/3
UNCRC, General Comment no 4 (2003) Adolescent health and development in the context of the convention on the rights of the child, 1 July 2003, CRC/GC/4/2003
UNCRC, General Comment no 5 (2003) General measures of implementation of the convention on the rights of the child, 27 November 2003, CRC/GC/2003/5
UNCRC, General Comment no 8 (2007) The rights of the child for protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment, 2 March 2007, CRC/GC/8
UNCRC, General Comment no 10 (2007) Children’s rights in juvenile justice, 25 April 2007, CRC/C/GC/10
UNCRC, General Comment no 11 (2009) Indigenous children and their rights under the convention, 12 February 2009, CRC/C/GC/11
UNCRC, General Comment no 12 (2009) The right of the child to be heard, 20 July 2009, CRC/C/GC/12
UNCRC, General Comment no 13 (2011) on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, 18 April 2011, CRC/C/GC/13
UNCRC, General Comment no 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1), 29 May 2013, CRC/C/GC/14
UNCRC, General Comment no 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (Art 24), 17 April 2013, CRC/C/GC/15
UNCRC, General Comment no 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of children’s rights (art 4), 29 July 2016, CRC/C/GC/19
UNCRC, General Comment no 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence, 6 December 2016, CRC/C/GC/20
UNICEF (2007) Implementation handbook for the convention on the rights of the child, 3rd edn. UNICEF, Geneva.
Veerman PE (2010) The ageing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Int J Child Rights 18:585–618. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181810X522360
Villagrán-Morales v Guatemala, Decision and Judgment, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ser C) No 63 (19 November 1999)
World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s, adopted by the World Summit for Children at New York on 30 September 1990 A/45/625, Annex
X v Sydney Children’s Hospital (2013) 85 NSWLR 294
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Peleg, N. (2019). International Children’s Rights Law: General Principles. In: Kilkelly, U., Liefaard, T. (eds) International Human Rights of Children. International Human Rights. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4184-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4184-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4183-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4184-6
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences