LL7012 - International Child and Human Rights Law (2016/17)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2016/17 | ||||||||
| Module title | International Child and Human Rights Law | ||||||||
| Module level | Masters (07) | ||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 20 | ||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | ||||||||
| Total study hours | 172 | ||||||||
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| Running in 2016/17(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) | No instances running in the year |
Module summary
The module focuses on the developing area of children's human rights, using both an international and domestic perspective.
Module aims
To develop an understanding of the concept of children's rights
To examine international instruments governing children's rights and to assess their effectiveness
To analyse whether law and policy in the United Kingdom protects and promotes children's rights
To compare the development of children's rights in other countries
To explore thematic areas in the field of children's rights
Syllabus
Introduction to Children’s Rights - the theory and debate about children's rights
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - including an examination of the four core Articles and the 54 policy and procedural Articles
The European Convention on Human Rights and case law, Human Rights Act 1998 and domestic case law; examining what difference the Human Rights Act 1998 has made to the promotion and enforcement of children's rights in the UK
Effective Government Structures - reviewing this from a comparative perspective; analysis of the actual workings and the weakness of a Committee based system of analysis and accountability
Exploitation of children – child soldiers, trafficking of children, violence against children, child labour
Learning and teaching
The teaching will include one lecture and one seminar per week. Lectures will initially provide students with the framework of analysis for children's rights and the seminars will be used to develop those concepts through discussion about children's rights (law and policy) both in the UK and internationally.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
- Have an understanding of the theories and debates about children's rights
- Have knowledge of the UNCRC and other international instruments including the ECHR and both ECHR and domestic case law
- Be able to critically assess whether laws and policy in the UK is in compliance with the principles and standards of the UNCRC
- Be able to advocate effective development structures that protect and promote children's rights
- Have an understanding of the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on children's rights
Assessment strategy
Part seen and unseen exam, using problem questions and essays that will address and assess a comprehensive range of children's rights issues. Students will be asked to attempt two seen questions (one essay and one problem question) that are compulsory and one unseen question from a choice of three questions.
Bibliography
Van Bueren, G International Law on the Rights of the Child (1998) Kluwer
Kilkelly, U The Child and the European Convention on Human Rights (1999) Dartmouth
Hodgkin, R and P Newell Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1998) UNICEF
Fortin, J Children's Rights and the Developing Law (2009) Cambridge University Press
Shazia Choudhury and Jonathan Herring, European Human Rights and Family Law (2010) Hart Publishing
Martin Guggenheim, What’s wrong with Children’s Rights (2005) Harvard University Press
Pardeck, John T, Children's Rights: Policy and Practice (2002) New York The Haworth Social Work Practice Press
Van Bueren, G International Documents on Children 2nd edn (1998) Kluwer
Van Bueren, G Childhood Abused: Protecting Children Against Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment (1998) Dartmouth
Freeman, M (ed) Children's Rights: A Comparative Perspective (1996) Dartmouth
Freeman, M.A. (ed.) (2004) Children's Rights. Volumes I and II, Aldershot: Ashgate
Alston, P. et al., eds. Children, Rights and the Law (1992) Oxford: Clarendon Press
Archard, D Children: Rights and Childhood (2004) 2nd Edition Routledge
Freeman, M and P Veerman, (eds) The Ideologies of Children's Rights (1992) International Studies in Human Rights, vol. 23. Dordrecht; Boston: M. Nijhoff
Veerman, P The Rights of the Child and the Changing Image of Childhood (1992) Dordrecht; Boston: M. Nijhoff
Cohen, C. P. and H. Davidson, eds. Children's Rights in America: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Compared with United States Law (1990) Chicago: American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Hodgkin, R and P Newell Effective Government Structures for Children (2000) Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Empowering Children and Young People (1995) Children's Rights Development Unit London
Making the Convention Work for Children (1995) Children's Rights Development Unit London
UK Agenda for Children (1994) Children's Rights Development Unit London
Drew, S Children and the Human Rights Act 1998 (2000) Save the Children
Swindells, H et al Family Law and the Human Rights Act 1998 (1999) Family Law
M Freeman, The Moral Status of Children (1997) Martinus Nijhoff
B Franklin, The Handbook of Children's Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice (1995) Routledge
B Franklin, The New Handbook of Children's Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice (2002) Routledge
Bajpai, Asha Child Rights in India (2003) OUP India