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

This investigation attempts to analyse the applicability of child protection policy and legislation to black families and children in South Africa. The literature study focuses on the nature, scope and implications of child protection and child protection legislation, perspectives on children's and parents' rights, and more specifically on child-care policy and legislation in South Africa. A limited exploratory empirical investigation within the confines of the Child and Family Care Society was undertaken. The researcher had, by way of a case analysis, studied factors influencing the application of child-care legislation ~l:'ld described how legislation is being applied in practice. The application of philosophies and principles inherent in child-care policies, and the evolvement of certain patterns and trends have also been analysed. Specific deficiencies have been identified and recommendations regarding more effective social work practice are highlighted. / Social Work / M.A. (Mental Health)

Although a child's right to parental care and family life is constitutionally entrenched, many South African children are deprived of this right. Transcultural adoption could serve their need but historically this has been prohibited or discouraged by racist policies. Whether this is in keeping with the now non-racial South African society is questionable. In adoption the best interests of the child is paramount and in determining this, courts should balance children's constitutional rights to their culture of origin against their constitutional rights to non-discrimination. After considering arguments for and against transcultural adoption and the position in the United States and the United Kingdom, the writer suggests that further interdisciplinary research into the question is necessary in South Africa; inter-country adoption should be considered and law reform and governmental policy should facilitate these. / Private Law / LL. M. (Law)

The advent of ARTs has enabled many individuals to have children and build families. Although ARTs have from the start been designated to serve as alternative way for heterosexual infertile individuals and couples to have genetically related children, ARTs are nowadays widely used by gays and lesbians to have even genetically unrelated children and build their families. This study addresses the well-being of children born as a result of ARTs and growing up in homosexual families in South Africa. South Africa has legalised homosexual unions, granting gays and lesbians several rights, including the right to marry, use ARTs to reproduce, and build families in which they raise their children. South Africa has also provided constitutional and statutory protection of children’s rights and has further required that the child’s best interests be considered as paramount in every matter concerning the child. Although ARTs may have allowed people to have children, they have proven to put the child’s interests at risk. ARTs are associated with several physical and psychological problems for resulting children. The legal protection provided for those children seems to be inadequate in respect of their best interests. Unlike Australian statutes that have provided strong protection for the child’s best interests, South African legislations regulating ARTs are far from protecting ART-born children’s interests. The application of the child’s best interests criterion to ART procedures has revealed that in the USA and Australia efforts of the state, ART providers and parents have been centred on the transfer of the custody of the ART-born child to the commissioning parent(s). Although in South Africa the application of the child’s best interests in the context of surrogacy procedures has revealed the protection of the child’s interests, it should be noted that that protection seems to focus on the child’s post-birth period. This situation leaves ART-born children without any protection, especially before their birth. In order to give effect to section 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and protect ART-born children’s interests, I make certain proposals for law reform in the final chapter of this thesis. / Private Law / LL. D

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-12T10:57:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodolfo Santos Pereira.pdf: 2620162 bytes, checksum: a23388865de795b188c375b77743073d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-12T10:57:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodolfo Santos Pereira.pdf: 2620162 bytes, checksum: a23388865de795b188c375b77743073d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-21 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / This scientific paper is the result of a personal – that later became professional – journey that aimed at understanding the reason why teeanged boys and girls kept being murdered in poor suburban neighborhoods in the state of São Paulo. As we could not analyze the lethal violence against children and teenagers in the whole state of São Paulo, we narrowed the objective to understand the reasons why the extermination takes place in the city of São Paulo. The dissertation is organized in three chapters. Chapter 1 is aimed at analyzing historically the development of childhood and adolescence in the Brazilian prism. This chapter has shown evidence of how violations of children and adolescente’s rights along with the lack of social policies aimed at this target group can contribute to the murder of these people. There were countless forms of thoughts and interventions in regards to the social vulnerabilities related to Brazilian childhood and adolescence such as Discipline; Coercion; Baby hatching; boarding school; child's code; Universal Declaration of the Rights of Children and Adolescents; Income distribution policies; Philanthropy; Charity; FEBEN; CASA Foundation; Child and Adolescent Statute; SINASE among many others. After having analyzed the data, the second chapter aimed at checking the lethal violence against children and adolescents in the city of São Paulo. This study addressed lethal violence across all age groups and regions of the country, taking into account all existing sides of this problem. Finally, we have analyzed the data from the 2012 to 2014 PPCAAM / SP management, which showed other profiles of children and adolescents to be exterminated in São Paulo. Only this collected data could support the study, however we believe that for a further research development and depth, interviews were carried out with professionals that work in the program as well as adolescents who have already been threatened with death. The interviews have shown that, according to these teenagers, death is nothing but a detail in communities of São Paulo, especially for those involved with some illicit activity. The popularized thought that "the only good indian is a dead indian understood through a cultural prism relating to thieves in Brazil] also affects children and adolescents. Both interviewees said they felt this in their relationship with the population and the police. According to these professionals, management and fund raising issues hinder the development of the Program, and this lethal violence fiercely attacks adolescence / Este estudo científico é fruto de uma jornada pessoal e posteriormente profissional que intrinsecamente despertava compreender porque meninos e meninas adolescentes eram constantemente assassinados nos bairros e periferias do Estado de São Paulo. Como não conseguiríamos analisar a violência letal contra crianças e adolescentes no Estado inteiro, delimitamos compreender os motivos pelos quais o extermínio ocorre no município de São Paulo. A dissertação foi dividida em três capítulos. O capítulo 1º analisou historicamente o desenvolvimento da infância e adolescência no cenário brasileiro. Este trajeto fez com que tivéssemos uma ideia de como as violações dos direitos das crianças e adolescentes, e a escassez de políticas sociais destinadas ao público podem contribuir para o assassinato destes sujeitos. Foram inúmeras formas de pensamentos e intervenções quanto as vulnerabilidades sociais referentes à infância e adolescência brasileiras. Disciplina; Coerção; Roda dos Expostos; Internato; Código do Menor; Declaração Universal dos Direitos das Crianças e Adolescentes; Assistencialismo; Filantropia; Caridade; FEBEM; Fundação CASA; Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente; SINASE, e tantas outras. Com todo o material pesquisado, o segundo Capítulo analisou a violência letal contra crianças e adolescentes na cidade de São Paulo. Este estudo abordou a violência letal em todas as faixas etárias e regiões do país, levando em consideração todas as facetas existentes. Por fim, analisamos os dados da gestão entre 2012 a 2014 do PPCAAM/SP, que mostrou outros perfis de crianças e adolescentes sob risco de serem exterminados em São Paulo. Estes dados por si só já enriqueceriam o estudo, porém acreditamos que para desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foram realizadas entrevistas com profissionais de atuação no programa, e adolescentes que já estiveram ameaçados de morte. As entrevistas mostraram que segundo os adolescentes a morte chega a ser um “mero detalhe” nas comunidades de São Paulo, principalmente para aqueles envolvidos com alguma atividade ilícita. A ideia popular de que “bandido bom é Bandido morto” também atinge crianças e adolescentes. Ambos entrevistados afirmaram sentir isto na relação com a população e a polícia. Na concepção dos profissionais, questões de gestão e financiamento impedem o desenvolvimento do Programa, e a violência letal ataca ferozmente a adolescência

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, and International Law / LL. M.

The researcher identified in her work as a social worker that sexually abused adolescents experience difficulties with testifying in court. The goal of this research was directed at developing guidelines to assist adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher utilised the qualitative research approach with an exploratory and descriptive nature. Semi-structured interviews were done with a sample of adolescents who have testified in court, a sample of parents or caregivers of adolescents who have testified in court and social workers working with adolescents who testify in court. These interviews were conducted to gain insight into how the research participants experienced the court process in order to formulate guidelines for adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher concluded that adolescents experience testifying in court as negative. Guidelines were developed from the information obtained from the research participants to support adolescents who has to testify in court. / Social work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)

The scourge of HIV/AIDS is ravaging our communities; many children have lost their parents to this pandemic. The death of parents because of this pandemic has resulted in the emergence of a new phenomenon of child-headed households. This paper seeks to examine the rights of children in child-headed households as entrenched in section 28(1)(b) and (c) of the Constitution. Once the rights of children in child-headed households are ascertained, the state’s duty to give effect to these rights is investigated. In the analysis of the rights, the socio-economic rights jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court is considered. The paper further argues that the state gives effect to the rights of children in child-headed households through legislation and policy. As such, the paper takes a closer look at the legislation and policies that seek to give effect to the rights of children in child-headed households as enumerated in section 28(1)(b) and (c) and gaps in that legislation and policy are highlighted. In conclusion, proposals are made that will assist the state to give effect to the rights of children in child-headed households as set out in the Constitution. / Private Law / LL.M.

Child rights, especially the right to health for children, is a concept of human development. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the obstacles to gender equality in the right to healthcare for children under five years in East Champaran, Bihar, North India. Ten key informant interviews and nine focus group discussions with mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers were conducted to research the barriers of guardians to accessing healthcare for their children, including their root beliefs and choices, which causes health inequalities. It was found that a strong patriarchal tradition predominates in these communities in North India, which favour sons and disadvantages daughters in healthcare provision. Despite the existing child rights and human rights policies that have been legislated, in India traditional practices that discriminate against female children remain dominant in the society, and limit development in East Champaran, Bihar, North India. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

The researcher identified in her work as a social worker that sexually abused adolescents experience difficulties with testifying in court. The goal of this research was directed at developing guidelines to assist adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher utilised the qualitative research approach with an exploratory and descriptive nature. Semi-structured interviews were done with a sample of adolescents who have testified in court, a sample of parents or caregivers of adolescents who have testified in court and social workers working with adolescents who testify in court. These interviews were conducted to gain insight into how the research participants experienced the court process in order to formulate guidelines for adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher concluded that adolescents experience testifying in court as negative. Guidelines were developed from the information obtained from the research participants to support adolescents who has to testify in court. / Social work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)