This thesis engages in a semioethic analysis of the English text of international human rights treaties to assess whether the provisions as formulated clearly identify the girl child and take into account her unique condition. Its hypothesis is that the terminology employed to define the girl child and phrase her rights is insufficient to ensure her protection. The thesis firstly explores the unique status of the girl child as a female and a child, and the obstacles she faces in exercising her rights as a result of sexism, childism, and interactive intersectional discrimination. It also presents the semiotics theory, the Meaning Triad developed by Victoria Lady Welby, which allows for an analysis of the sense, meaning and significance of terminology, and the semioethic approach, which studies the import of signs for the purpose of improving the human condition. The thesis explains how intersectionality theory and semioethics shall be applied as methodologies to examine the content of international treaties as concerns the girl child. Secondly, the thesis explores the status of the girl child under international law. It examines the gradual recognition of the girl child in the international legal apparatus and the definition of the girl child in international law and the English language. Thirdly, the thesis analyses the right to life of the girl child as a case study to investigate whether its formulation under international law sufficiently tackles three key violations experienced by girl children: prenatal sex selection, female infanticide, and feminicide of adolescent girls. The thesis focuses on the two main treaties pertaining to the girl child, the CRC and the CEDAW, and a central treaty protecting the right to life, the ICCPR. At the end of each chapter, recommendations are provided, where applicable, to modify the wording of relevant provisions in order to strengthen the protection of the girl child.

Doctor Legum - LLD / The thesis focused on how the advent of children's rights, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has impacted on the subject of juvenile justice and embarked on a practical examination of law reform in this regard in an African context. The focus was placed on a number of African countries that have embarked on or completed child law reform in the aftermath of ratification of the CRC. The case studies in this thesis were Ghana (1998-2003), Kenya (1993-2001), Namibia (1994 to date), Lesotho (2003 to date), South Africa (1997 to date) and Uganda (1992-1996). / South Africa

The international dilemma of child soldiers is a humanitarian concern throughout the world. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (CSUCS) began in 1998 and is currently the leading collaborative movement to address the issue. However, because of its emphasis on a universal 'Straight 18' approach and support of the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC), the CSUCS ignores contextual realities that affect the implementation ofthe international legislation and the development of norms concerning child soldiers. This research project will examine the current international nongovernmental organization (INGO) response to child soldiers- focusing on the CSCUS - and formulate suggestions for potential avenues to further INGO involvement with policies and projects. The argument is based on a neoliberal institutionalist platform that argues in favour ofiNGOs' ability to successfully influence actions taken by state actors to address human right issues. Highlighting the successful INGO influence on states during the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, I will present this example as a potential model for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and explore the feasibility of this model whilst making suggestions for more effective involvement of INGOs with regard to the issue of child soldiers.

Within the context of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments the recognition and enforcement of foreign custody orders is unique. By reason of the fact that custody orders are always modifiable "in the best interests of the child" they cannot be regarded as final orders and are thus not capable of recognition and enforcement on the same basis as final orders. The failure of courts to afford foreign custody orders recognition and enforcement in the normal course has created the potential for a person deprived of the custody of a child to remove the child from the jurisdiction of a court rendering a custody order to another jurisdiction within which he or she may seek a new, more favourable order. This potential for behaviour in contempt of an existing order has been exploited by numerous parents who feel aggrieved by custody orders. The problem of parental child snatching has escalated to such a degree that the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was drawn up to introduce uniform measures amongst member states to address this problem. Despite being a meaningful step in the fight against international child abduction the Hague Convention does not fully resolve the problem. For this reason other measures have been suggested to supplement the Convention. The different approaches taken in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America to recognition and enforcement of foreign custody orders and the measures to overcome the problem of international child abduction are examined and a comparative methodology applied to the design of a model approach for South Africa. The object of this model is to permit the South African courts to address the international child abduction problem without falling prey to any of the pitfalls experienced elsewhere in the legal systems examined. / Law / LL.D.

Annexure E: Criminal Capacity Check List (pages 61-62) is in English. The Afrikaans or Xhosa version of this document is also available on request / The aim of this explorative and descriptive study was to establish if criminologists could assist in the criminal capacity assessment of children in conflict with the law. A qualitative approach was utilised in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the current criminal capacity assessment process and the role players involved in the process. Data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted with child justice practitioners. Purposive sampling was employed and data were analysed according to the methods of Rabiee as well as Morse and Field. The findings of this study indicate that the current one-dimensional medico-legal assessment approach is not in the best interest of the child. A shortage of human resources, ineffective assessment tools, inadequate training of role players, and operational problems in the criminal capacity assessment process, are all factors that hamper a successful child-centred approach. A multi-disciplinary approach was found to be the most suitable approach to assess children in conflict with the law. It was concluded that professionals from disciplines such as social work, criminology, probation work, psychology and psychiatry should form part of the multi-disciplinary criminal capacity assessment team. The important role that criminologists can play as part of this team was acknowledged in this study. It was furthermore established that the role and function of criminologists, as well as the study field of criminology, are still unfamiliar to various practitioners in the human sciences professions. Criminologists are also still regarded as crime researchers with limited practical applications in areas of the Criminal Justice System. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

The law governing children’s rights is part of international human rights law and therefore plays an important role in the protection of human rights. However, the effectiveness of the protection of children’s rights depends on a State’s compliance with children’s rights instruments and the implementation mechanisms within a given State. There are implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights at the national, regional and international levels. The protection of children’s rights at these three levels is provided for by children’s rights instruments. The monitoring of particular implementation mechanisms with regard to children’s rights is effected by reporting processes through State Parties to domestic institutions, regional, and international organisations. The reports provided by States Parties must contain relevant information with regard to measures that States Parties have taken to implement children’s rights instruments. Inadequate implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights have emerged as the greatest threat to the realisation of children’s rights. This means that the adoption of children’s rights instruments may yield results only when effective implementation steps are taken by the respective States Parties. There are four “cornerstone” principles that underpin the protection of children’s rights.1 These are: non-discrimination; the best interest of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.2 This study will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle as covered in children’s rights instruments at regional and international levels.Education is a powerful tool in ensuring the protection and enjoyment of children’s rights. Therefore, ineffective implementation of the right to education may have adverse consequences for society. The best interest of the child principle is the guiding principle in all matters concerning children’s rights.3 Therefore, the application and effectiveness of the best interests of the child principle will ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Further, the study will examine the right to education and the best interest of the child in order to demonstrate how the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights instruments have provided for their implementation. Ratification of children’s rights instruments is a symbolic gesture on the part of States Parties to the recognition and significance of protection of children’s rights. The compliance with children rights instruments or treaty obligations is crucial to ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Thus, non-compliance with treaty obligations will have a negative impact on the protection of children’s rights. The evaluation of the right to education and the best interests of the child principle will be undertaken against the backdrop of children’s rights instruments. The children’s rights instruments are provided for by the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights systems. The dissertation will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle within three regional systems, namely, the European Union (EU), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the African Union (AU). It will also examine pertinent case law within the three regional systems. Finally, the efficacy of implementation mechanisms for the enforcement of children’s rights will be assessed. / Public, Constitutional, & International Law / LLM

The study provides a brief overview of the most important legal instruments in the international, regional and national framework on the development and promotion of children’s rights. Basically, it examines the continuous and pervasive violation of children’s rights despite the progressive instruments that have been adopted to ensure the proper and effective realization of these rights. It focuses on three different countries in Africa: South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria because of the value-laden nature of the progressive laws adopted by these countries in the protection of children’s rights. Specific roles and actions taken by international, regional and national monitoring bodies are highlighted to indicate their effectiveness in promoting and fulfilling rights for children. Country reports on the situation of children are examined in the context of realization of salient rights for children amidst the different judicial, political and socio-cultural settings. Emerging judgments and judicial developments that have limited and advanced the realization of rights for children in the specific country context were explored. Conclusions and recommendations are made. / Public, Constitutional, & International Law / LLM

This study explores the international obligations of the European Union to the unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee child. In doing so, it involves an investigation into the concept and content of durable solutions for the refugee child. As such, it analyses the effect of the temporary European relocation scheme in the search for durable solutions. To that end, it engages a comprehensive explanation of the relevant refugee law, the law of the rights of the child and the European legislative framework governing the reception and protection of refugees. Cumulatively, an assessment is made as to the effectiveness of the durable solutions that currently exist. This study seeks to establish whether, in an attempt to relieve the pressure from the frontline member states by creating a system for effective integration, Europe encourages the development of a children’s rights perspective and ultimately, provides a path for the unaccompanied child’s development and self-fulfilment. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M.

The law governing children’s rights is part of international human rights law and therefore plays an important role in the protection of human rights. However, the effectiveness of the protection of children’s rights depends on a State’s compliance with children’s rights instruments and the implementation mechanisms within a given State. There are implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights at the national, regional and international levels. The protection of children’s rights at these three levels is provided for by children’s rights instruments. The monitoring of particular implementation mechanisms with regard to children’s rights is effected by reporting processes through State Parties to domestic institutions, regional, and international organisations. The reports provided by States Parties must contain relevant information with regard to measures that States Parties have taken to implement children’s rights instruments. Inadequate implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights have emerged as the greatest threat to the realisation of children’s rights. This means that the adoption of children’s rights instruments may yield results only when effective implementation steps are taken by the respective States Parties. There are four “cornerstone” principles that underpin the protection of children’s rights.1 These are: non-discrimination; the best interest of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.2 This study will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle as covered in children’s rights instruments at regional and international levels.Education is a powerful tool in ensuring the protection and enjoyment of children’s rights. Therefore, ineffective implementation of the right to education may have adverse consequences for society. The best interest of the child principle is the guiding principle in all matters concerning children’s rights.3 Therefore, the application and effectiveness of the best interests of the child principle will ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Further, the study will examine the right to education and the best interest of the child in order to demonstrate how the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights instruments have provided for their implementation. Ratification of children’s rights instruments is a symbolic gesture on the part of States Parties to the recognition and significance of protection of children’s rights. The compliance with children rights instruments or treaty obligations is crucial to ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Thus, non-compliance with treaty obligations will have a negative impact on the protection of children’s rights. The evaluation of the right to education and the best interests of the child principle will be undertaken against the backdrop of children’s rights instruments. The children’s rights instruments are provided for by the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights systems. The dissertation will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle within three regional systems, namely, the European Union (EU), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the African Union (AU). It will also examine pertinent case law within the three regional systems. Finally, the efficacy of implementation mechanisms for the enforcement of children’s rights will be assessed. / Public, Constitutional, and International Law / LLM

Within the context of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments the recognition and enforcement of foreign custody orders is unique. By reason of the fact that custody orders are always modifiable "in the best interests of the child" they cannot be regarded as final orders and are thus not capable of recognition and enforcement on the same basis as final orders. The failure of courts to afford foreign custody orders recognition and enforcement in the normal course has created the potential for a person deprived of the custody of a child to remove the child from the jurisdiction of a court rendering a custody order to another jurisdiction within which he or she may seek a new, more favourable order. This potential for behaviour in contempt of an existing order has been exploited by numerous parents who feel aggrieved by custody orders. The problem of parental child snatching has escalated to such a degree that the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was drawn up to introduce uniform measures amongst member states to address this problem. Despite being a meaningful step in the fight against international child abduction the Hague Convention does not fully resolve the problem. For this reason other measures have been suggested to supplement the Convention. The different approaches taken in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America to recognition and enforcement of foreign custody orders and the measures to overcome the problem of international child abduction are examined and a comparative methodology applied to the design of a model approach for South Africa. The object of this model is to permit the South African courts to address the international child abduction problem without falling prey to any of the pitfalls experienced elsewhere in the legal systems examined. / Law / LL.D.