Global Reflections on Children's Rights and the Law. 30 Years After the Convention on the Rights of the Child

303 Pages·5.174 MB·English

by  Ellen Marrus, Pamela Laufer-Ukeles

Global Reflections on Children’s
Rights and the Law
Thirty years after the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, this book provides diverse perspectives from countries and regions across
the globe on its implementation, critique and potential for reform.
The book revolves around key issues including progress in implementing the
CRC worldwide; how to include children in legal proceedings; how to uphold
children’s various civil rights; how to best assist children at risk; and discussions
surrounding children’s identity rights in a changing familial order. Discussion
of the CRC is both compelling and polarizing and the book portrays the enthu-
siasm around these topics through contrasting and comparative opinions on a
range of topics.
The work provides varying perspectives from many different countries and
regions, offering a wealth of insight on topics that will be of significant interest
to scholars and practitioners working in the areas of children’s rights and justice.
Ellen Marrus is the Royce Till Professor of Law at the University of H ouston
Law Center (UHLC) and founder and director of the Center for Children,
Law & Policy in Houston, TX, USA.
Pamela Laufer-Ukeles is Professor of Law and Healthcare Administration at
the Academic College of Law and Science in Hod Hasharon, Israel.
Routledge Research in Human Rights Law
Domestic Judicial Treatment of European Court of
Human Rights Case Law
Beyond Compliance
Edited by David Kosař, Jan Petrov, Katarína Šipulová,
Hubert Smekal, Ladislav Vyhnánek, and Jozef Janovský
Hate Speech and Human Rights in Eastern Europe
Legislating for Divergent Values
Viera Pejchal
Collective Punishment and Human Rights Law
Addressing Gaps in International Law
Cornelia Klocker
Executive Clemency
Comparative and Empirical Perspectives
Edited by Daniel Pascoe and Andrew Novak
International Human Rights Law and Crimes Against
Women in Turkey
Legislation on So-Called Honour Killings
Ayşe Güneş
Rights of the Child, Mothers and Sentencing
The Case of Kenya
Alice Wambui Macharia
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Research-in-Human-Rights-Law/book-series/HUMRIGHTSLAW
Global Reflections on
Children’s Rights and
the Law
30 Years After the Convention on
the Rights of the Child
Edited by
Ellen Marrus and
Pamela Laufer-Ukeles
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Ellen Marrus and
Pamela Laufer-Ukeles; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Ellen Marrus and Pamela Laufer-Ukeles to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-67386-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-67388-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-13114-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
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We dedicate this book to all the children in the world.

Contents
Foreword xi
Introduction xiii
ELLEN MARRUS AND PAMELA LAUFER-UKELES
Acknowledgments xix
List of contributors xxi
PART I
Struggles, challenges, and successes in implementing
and ratifying the CRC worldwide 1
A. Worldwide
1 How to ensure wider implementation of the CRC 3
OLGA KHAZOVA
B. European Union
2 The European Union and the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child: towards a
fully-fledged European Union child rights strategy 17
AIDA KISUNAITE AND SIMONE DELICATI
C. Africa
3 Thirty years of the CRC in Africa 30
JULIA SLOTH-NIELSEN
D. Israel
4 Thirty years later: the CRC’s influence on Israeli law,
taking stock and moving forward 46
TAMAR MORAG
viii Contents
E. United States
5 Forever owned: children as possessions in the CRC 59
JAMES G. DWYER
6 Family obligations and socio-economic rights under
the Convention on the Rights of the Child 73
BARBARA STARK
PART II
Children’s Participation Rights and Child-Friendly Justice 87
7 My voice must be heard too: why children
need a voice in custody hearings 89
ELLEN MARRUS, MALIKAH MARRUS, AND RIFQA SA’AADAT
8 Child-friendly justice: a malleable catalyst for the
promotion of child and human rights 103
PHILIP D. JAFFÉ
9 Family group conferences in child protection:
a communitarian implementation of children’s
participation rights 115
TALI GAL
1 0 The unheard voices of young girls at risk 128
SHIRAN REICHENBERG
PART III
Children’s civil rights: rights to free speech, health,
religious freedom, and privacy 141
11 Childhood, speech, and the right to free speech 143
NICHOLAS HATZIS
1 2 Upholding children’s civil rights as relational rights:
the example of childhood circumcision 157
PAMELA LAUFER-UKELES
1 3 Protection of the child’s right to privacy in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the General
Data Protection Regulation and the Polish law 171
AGNIESZKA OGRODNIK-KALITA
Contents ix
14 Children’s digital rights: realizing the potential
of the CRC 183
KATHARINA KAESLING
PART IV
Children’s right to identity 197
15 The child’s right to know their biological origin in
comparative European law: consequences for
parentage law 199
GORDANA KOVAČEK STANIĆ
16 Québec’s (out)law concerning medically assisted
procreation: a plea for access to origins 211
JOHANNE CLOUET AND VALÉRIE P. COSTANZO
PART V
Protecting children at risk 223
17 Suffering at the hands of caregivers: the mandatory
duty of caregivers to report child abuse and neglect
from a South African perspective 225
MILDRED BEKINK
18 The journey from ignorance to acknowledgement of
child sexual abuse in India 238
NAMRATA MISHRA
19 Dutch strategies for combating child poverty: a child
rights-based approach 251
MEREL JONKER, JET TIGCHELAAR, CATRIN FINKENAUER,
KIRSTEN VISSER, AND GONNEKE STEVENS
Index 265