International Children's Rights Instruments

This collection is an essential supplement to the recent academic handbooks on children’s rights studies and international children's rights law. Over the years, the international legal framework on children's rights has evolved into a complex system, which includes United Nations treaties and resolutions, regional human rights instruments, such as treaties, recommendations, resolutions, and guidelines, both of private and public international law.
For students, researchers, and professionals, navigating this complex social and legal landscape can be challenging. A comprehensive and easily accessible overview of these legal sources is crucial for effectively understanding and promoting children’s rights. Edited by leading experts in the field, this book is meticulously designed to provide exactly that, making it an invaluable resource for anyone dedicated to the protection and promotion of children's rights.

Karl Hanson is the Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights Studies and a Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, Switzerland. He teaches primarily in the Master interdisciplinaire en droits de l’enfant and the Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights. Additionally, he lectures on children's rights at the Faculties of Law of both the University of Geneva and the University of Zurich. His research and publications focus on interdisciplinary children’s rights theories, working children and child labour norms and policies, international children’s rights law, and juvenile justice. Karl Hanson serves as Chair of the Children’s Rights European Academic Network (CREAN) and is a co-editor of the journal Childhood.

Ton Liefaard is Professor of Children’s Rights and holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at the Department of Child Law and Health Law of Leiden University, The Netherlands. He has founded the Master of Laws: Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights and initiated the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, an open access platform on children’s rights jurisprudence. He teaches and publishes widely on issues related to international children’s rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, juvenile justice, child friendly justice, deprivation of liberty of children, violence against children and access to justice for children.

Roberta Ruggiero is Director of the Children’s Rights Academy at the Centre for Children’s Rights Studies of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her publications and primary research interests lie in interdisciplinary Children’s Rights Studies, including critical analysis of States’ compliance with international legal children’s rights obligations, impact assessments of public policies and actors, and the role of knowledge brokering between academia and policymakers. She is the author and co-editor of several books, including Monitoring State Compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Elena Patrizi is Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Law and Research Assistant at the Centre for Children’s Rights Studies of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Urbino (2013) and an LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy (2016).

Katrien Klep is Assistant Professor in Child Law at Leiden University, The Netherlands. She teaches and publishes on issues related to international children’s rights, especially access to justice for children and Independent Children’s Rights Institutions.

Lucy Opoka is Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Child Law and Health Law of Leiden University, The Netherlands. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (2013) and an Advanced LLM in International Children’s Rights from Leiden University (2019).