The Un Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Commentary

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, Chilf Prostitution and Pornography.

It offers 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.

John Tobin, Professor, Melbourne University Law School

John Tobin is Professor of Law at Melbourne Law School, Melbourne University. He has written extensively in the area of children's rights and provided consultancy, probono services and training on children's rights to a range of law reform bodies, human rights commissions, judicial bodies, and NGOs.