Children’s Rights

Wouter Vandenhole, Professor of Human and Children's Rights, Law and Development Research Group, Faculty of Law, Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Associate Research Professor, Law and Development Research Group, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp and Sara Lembrechts, PhD researcher, Migration Law Research Group, Ghent University, Belgium

• CONTENTS:ForewordIntroduction: Three decades of children’s rights law 1Article 1: Scope of application 48Article 2: Non-discrimination 52Article 3: Best interests of the child 59Article 4: General obligation 74Article 5: Appropriate direction and guidance consistent with the child’s evolvingcapacities 80Article 6: The right to life, survival and development 88Article 7: Name and nationality 100Article 8: Preservation of identity 108Article 9: Separation from parents 112Article 10: Family reunification 124Article 11: Illicit transfer and non-return of children 134Article 12: The views of the child 143Article 13: Freedom of expression 160Article 14: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion 167Article 15: Freedom of association and peaceful assembly 174Article 16: The right to privacy 184Article 17: Access to appropriate information through media 194Article 18: Common responsibilities of parents for the upbringing and developmentof the child 203Article 19: Protection from all forms of violence 209Article 20: Children deprived of their family environment 222Article 21: Adoption 228Article 22: Asylum seeking and refugee children 236Article 23: Children with disabilities 247Article 24: Right to health 254Article 25: Periodic review of placement 274Article 26: Social security 276Article 27: Adequate standard of living 281Article 28: Right to education 288Article 29: Aims of education 299Article 30: Rights of children from minorities and indigenous origin 303Article 31: Rest, leisure and play 312Article 32: Protection from economic exploitation 320Article 33: Protection from drugs 327Article 34: Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse 334Article 35: Prevention of abduction, sale and trafficking 343Article 36: Protection against all other forms of exploitation 352Article 37: Deprivation of liberty, prohibition of torture, degrading and inhumantreatment and of capital punishment and life imprisonment 355Article 38: Children in armed conflict 369Article 39: Recovery and reintegration of child victims 376Article 40: Children’s rights in justice systems 383Article 41: Respect for higher standards 397Article 42: Dissemination 399Article 43: The Committee on the Rights of the Child 404Article 44: Reporting procedure 409Article 45: Implementation and international cooperation 413Articles 46–54: Final clauses: signature, ratification, accession, entry into force,amendments, reservations, denunciations 417Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) 424Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography 437Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure (OPIC) 456Index 483

‘The book offers an extensive analysis of the substantive and procedural provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its three Optional Protocols. The commentary is a timely contribution to the growing field of children’s rights from a doctrinal legal perspective. It is strongly recommended to those who are willing to learn more about children’s rights law from the international human rights law perspective. It can serve as a practical guide for those who have no or limited specialisation in international children’s rights law. At the same time, it contributes significantly to children’s rights experts, allowing them to access the most recent case law and legal developments.’