II.3.3.4 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Main Debate

What are the implications of the best interest principle in the implementation of asylum law?

Main Points

  • Definition of a child
  • Vulnerability of children
  • Unaccompanied minors

Treaties

  1. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.

Soft Law

  1. Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘General Comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin’, 1 September 2005, CRC/GC/2005/6.
  2. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ‘General comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1)’, 29 May 2013, CRC /C/GC/14.
  3. UNHCR, ‘Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees’, HCR/IP/4/Rev.1, Reedited 1992, paras. 213–219.
  4. UNHCR, Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Program, ‘Children at Risk’, Conclusion No. 107 (LVIII), 2007.
  5. UNHCR, Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Program, ‘Refugee Children’, Conclusion No. 47 (XXXVIII), 1987.
  6. UNHCR, Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Program, ‘Refugee Children’, No. 59 (XL), 1989.
  7. UNHCR, Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Program, ‘Refugee Children and Adolescents’, No. 84 (XLVIII), 1997.

UNHCR Documents

  1. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 8: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)(2) and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 22 December 2009.
  2. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Determining the Best Interests of the Child’, May 2008.
  3. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 7: The Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons At Risk of Being Trafficked’, 7 April 2006.
  4. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 10: Claims to Refugee Status related to Military Service within the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 3 December 2013, HCR/GIP/13/10.
  5. UNHCR and UNICEF, ‘What States can do to ensure respect for the best interests of unaccompanied and separated children in Europe’, October 2014.

Readings

Core

  1. F. Martin and J. Curran, ‘Separated Children: A Comparison of the Treatment of Separated Child Refugees Entering Australia and Canada’, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 19, no. 3 (October 2007), pp. 440–470.

Extended

  1. K. Touzenis, Unaccompanied Minors: Rights and Protections (Rome: Xledizioni, 2006).
  2. Separated Children in Europe Programme, SCEP Statement of Good Practice, 4th Revised Edition, March 2010.

 II.3.3.4 The UN Convention on the Rights of the ChildII.3.3.4 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

TreatiesTreaties

#NameSize
1Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.Empty

UNHCR DocumentsUNHCR Documents

#NameSize
1UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 8: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)(2) and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 22 December 2009.UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 8: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)(2) and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 22 December 2009.Empty
2UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 7: The Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons At Risk of Being Trafficked’, 7 April 2006.UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 7: The Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons At Risk of Being Trafficked’, 7 April 2006.Empty
3UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 10: Claims to Refugee Status related to Military Service within the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 3 December 2013, HCR/GIP/UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection No. 10: Claims to Refugee Status related to Military Service within the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, 3 December 2013, HCR/GIP/Empty
4UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Determining the Best Interests of the Child’, May 2008.UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Determining the Best Interests of the Child’, May 2008.Empty