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Global Perspectives on Consolidated Children's Rights

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Global Perspectives on Consolidated Children's Rights DIVISION OF POLICY AND PRACTICE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON CONSOLIDATED CHILDREN’S RIGHTS STATUTES LEGISLATIVE REFORM INITIATIVE – PAPER SERIES Beatrice Akua Duncan Consultant Gender and Child Rights Specialist SEPTEMBER 2008 Global Perspectives On Consolidated Children’s Rights Statutes © United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement Section, Division of Policy and Practice, New York, 2008 Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement Section, Division of Policy and Practice UNICEF 3 UN Plaza, NY, NY 10017 September 2008 This is a working document. It has been prepared to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and to stimulate discussion. This paper is part of the Legislative Reform Initiative – Paper Series, (LRI - Paper series) spearheaded by the Global Policy Section of UNICEF. The aim of the Paper series is to explore and provide guidance on the role of legislation – including regulations which may have a direct or indirect bearing on children – in protecting and advancing children’s rights in a particular area. The Paper Series are intended to increase understanding of the human rights- approach to legislative reform. The opinions, findings, analysis and conclusions expressed within this background paper are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to its affiliated organisations, or to the members of its Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The text has not been edited to official publication standards and UNICEF accepts no responsibility for errors. The designations in this publication do not imply an opinion on legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation of frontiers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study greatly benefited from the extensive research undertaken by the Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement Section in the Division of Policy and Practice. Many thanks are due in particular to Nadine Perrault, coordinator of the Legislative Reform Initiative (LRI), Natalia Adler, Nicola Brandt, Noreen Khan, and Vanessa Sedletzki for their important contribution. The Gender and Rights Unit gratefully acknowledges the contribution of UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Our sincere thanks go in particular to Susan Bissell, Chief, Implementing International Standards Unit at the Centre. The elaboration of this study would not have been possible without the input and support provided by UNICEF country offices. We express our appreciation in particular to the UNICEF country offices in Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Panama, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zambia. Table of Contents Page Enactment of Consolidated Children’s Rights Statutes..............................................................i Executive Summary...................................................................................................................ii Resumen Ejecutivo ..................................................................................................................vii Résumé Analytique................................................................................................................ xiii List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................................xix Introduction................................................................................................................................1 Part I: Putting Consolidated Children’s Codes into Perspective ...............................................3 1.1 Context.............................................................................................................................3 1.2 Objectives and methodology of study..............................................................................4 1.3 The impact of legal traditions on the enactment of consolidated children’s statutes ......6 Part II: The Status Quo of Global Law Reform Efforts...........................................................19 2.1 Countries which have undergone consolidated processes .............................................19 2.2 The role of the Committee .............................................................................................20 Part III: Perspectives on Consolidated Reforms: Processes and Contents ..............................31 3.1 The process of reform ....................................................................................................31 3.2 General features of consolidated children’s rights statutes............................................34 3.3 Definition of the child (Article 1) ..................................................................................49 3.4 General Principles (Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12)...................................................................54 3.5 The principles of the Convention...................................................................................57 3.6 Civil rights and freedoms (Articles 7, 8, 13-17 and 37a)...............................................60 3.7 Family Environment and alternative care (Articles 5, 18.1, 18.2, 9, 10, 27.4, 20, 21, 11, 19, 39 and 25) ......................................................................................................................63 3.8 Basic health and welfare (Articles 6.2, 23, 24, 26, 18.3, 27.1, 27.2 and 27.3)..............68 3.9 Rights of children with disabilities ................................................................................69 3.10 Harmful traditional practices .......................................................................................70 3.11 The right of the child to an adequate standard of living ..............................................70 3.12 Economic rights of the child........................................................................................72 3.13 Education, leisure and cultural activities (Articles 28, 29 and 31) ..............................73 3.14 Special protection measures.........................................................................................74 Part IV: Important Lessons and the Way Forward ..................................................................89 4.1 Lessons Learned.............................................................................................................89 4.2 The challenges ahead .....................................................................................................93 4.3 Recommended future actions.........................................................................................94 4.4 Conclusions....................................................................................................................96 Appendix 1: List of State Parties with Consolidated Statutes Passed and Pending.................98 Appendix 2: List of Countries in Receipt of Specific Recommendations by the Committee to Enact a Consolidated Children’s Statute by Legal Tradition.................................................101 Appendix 3: Specific Observations by the Committee on a selected number of existing consolidated statutes ..............................................................................................................110 Appendix 4: Model Provisions on Inter-Agency Collaboration............................................114 Appendix 5: Model Provisions on a Child Friendly Court from Goa....................................118 Appendix 6: Model Provisions on Children in Need of Protection from Kenya...................120 Appendix 7: Model Provisions on Keeping the Child within the Family Environment from Latvia .....................................................................................................................................121 Appendix 8: Model Provisions on the Principles of Justice Administration from New Zealand ................................................................................................................................................122 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................124 Enactment of Consolidated Children’s Rights Statutes1 x 61 states have enacted consolidated children’s rights statutes without express recommendations of the Committee. x 12 State Parties have enacted consolidated children’s rights statutes in response to express recommendations of the Committee. x 25 State Parties have yet to enact consolidated children’s rights statutes in response to express recommendations of the Committee. Source: UNICEF Children’s Code – Draft 2008 Note: the boundaries and the names shown and the designations used on these maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations 1 As of 2007. Executive Summary
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