This book examines the rights of the child using the global framework of the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Analysing both public and private international legal aspects, this cross-disciplinary text promotes a holistic understanding of the ongoing development of child law, children’s rights and the protection of the child. In-depth analyses of the following topic areas are included: Childhood in the digital age; Child labour; International parental child abduction; Inter-country adoption; Sexual exploitation; Children and armed conflict; and Indigenous children. These topics are contextualised with further chapters on the concept of childhood and children’s rights, the international legal framework in which the Convention operates and a substantive chapter on the Convention itself. This fourth edition has been updated and revised, including a new chapter dealing with issues arising from childhood in the age of unprecedented digital technological advancements; a crucial issue for childhood experiences in modern times. This edition also includes new case studies, recent legal developments in the field of international child law, and inclusion of broader scholarship to capture diverse views on international law and child law. The aim of this book is to provide the reader with an accessible, informed, critical and scholarly account of the international law framework relating to children. Drawing on a range of legal and other disciplines, this book remains a valuable resource for those in the course of study and research in this area.

International Child Law examines and discusses the international legal framework and issues relating to children. Analysing both public and private international legal aspects, this cross-disciplinary text promotes an understanding of the ongoing development of child law, children’s rights and the protection of the child. Examining the theoretical background to the law, and providing a concise and clear overview of the instruments and institutions that protect children internationally, this text then focuses on key themes and issues in child law and children’s rights. This new edition has been updated and revised throughout, including expanded material on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as discussion of recent landmark developments on the law relating to recruiting child soldiers as a result of Lubanga (2012). The third edition also includes a new case study feature that critically considers key themes and issues in international child law in a real world context. Drawing on a range of legal and other disciplines, International Child Law is a valuable resource for those in the course of study and research in this area.

Only available in paperback version ISBN 90 411 1091 7 This volume draws upon the author's own experience to highlight the complexities behind the global violations of children's rights. Analysis and description are interwoven to provide a coherent study of the international status of children and the rights which attach to this status, both for those familiar and unfamiliar with international law. The author demonstrates the potential of international law in protecting the rights of children, even in states which are restructuring their economies. To be effective, international law cannot be used in isolation and the text seeks to place the rights of the child in their cultural and historical contexts. All royalties from The International Law on the Rights of the Child are being donated to the International Save the Children Alliance to assist them in their work with children. 'Ms van Bueren combines skilfully an enormous amount of factual material with careful legal analysis and comment. [...] this book will rapidly become indispensable to children's rights lawyers...' C.M. Chinkin, University of Southampton 'Among numerous publications dealing with the subject of promotion and protection of the rights of the child issued up to date, G. Van Bueren's The International Law on the Rights of the Child is the most serious monograph in the field of international law.'

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most extensive and widely ratified international human rights treaty. This Commentary offers a comprehensive analysis of each of the substantive provisions in the Convention and its Optional Protocols on Children and Armed Conflict, and the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Pornography. It provides a detailed insight into the drafting history of these instruments, the scope and nature of the rights accorded to children, and the obligations imposed on states to secure the implementation of these rights. In doing so, it draws on the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, international, regional, and domestic courts, academic and interdisciplinary scholarly analyses. It is of relevance to anyone working on matters affecting children including government officials, policy makers, judicial officers, lawyers, educators, social workers, health professionals, academics, aid and humanitarian workers, and members of civil society.

Children are the victims of some of the most devastating examples of state-sanctioned and private human rights abuse. In increasing numbers, they are attempting to find international protection, and are forced to navigate complex administrative and legal processes that fail to take into account their distinct needs and vulnerabilities. The key challenges they face in establishing entitlement to refugee protection are their invisibility and the risk of incorrect assessment. Drawing on an extensive and original analysis of jurisprudence of leading common law jurisdictions, this book undertakes an assessment of the extent to which these challenges may be overcome by greater engagement between international refugee law and international law on the rights of the child. The result is the first comprehensive study on the manner in which these two mutually reinforcing legal regimes can interact to strengthen the protection of refugee children.

Child soldiers are generally perceived as faultless, passive victims. This ignores that the roles of child soldiers vary, from innocent abductee to wilful perpetrator. This book argues that child soldiers should be judged on their actions and that treating them like a homogenous group prevents them from taking responsibility for their acts.

Responding to the harms caused by drugs is one of the most challenging social policy issues of our time. In Child Rights and Drug Control on International Law, Damon Barrett explores the meaning of the child’s right to protection from drugs under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the relationship between this right and the UN drug control conventions. Adopting a critical approach, the book traces the intersecting histories of the treaties, the role of child rights in global drug policy discourse, and the practice of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It invites us to reflect upon the potential for child rights to provide justification for state actions associated with wider human rights risks.