<p>The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was ratified by Sweden in 1990. Among its principles is devotion to the best interests of the child (article 3). This principle is hard to define, and it is difficult to find studies on how children express themselves about how the convention should be realized. The Swedish government wants local councils to introduce routines that follow the proposed rights. The Swedish school system is an important arena where UNCRC’s rights can be put into practice. This study’s purpose is to discover how the Swedish upper secondary schools follow article 3, using pupils’ description of what is best for them as a starting point. Two pupil focus-group interviews have been used to obtain this description, and the pupils views were divided into four main themes: Security, Reception, Studies and development and Influence. These were converted into questionniares for two schools. The result was analyzed using empowerment and SOC (sense of coherence) as theoretical perspectives. Some answers differed between the schools as to how the principle of article 3 is fulfilled. The majority of the pupils are happy with their schools, in spite of difficulties with structural conditions and that life at school isn’t always on the pupils’ conditions.</p>

<p>The Swedish rules for marrying in Sweden are different for swedish citizens and foreigners. A swedish citizen has to have permission from"Länsstyrelsen"to marry before the age of 18 but a foreigner may marry without permission at an age of 15, unless a higher age is required by the foreign law. The main question in this essay is if the swedish international law concerning the age of marriage is compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and/or the Swedish Constitution. The comparison is based on mainly two questions: Primarily the Swedish international law is discussed concerning which marrying age is good for the child. Thereafter it is discussed whether it is discriminating to have different marrying ages for swedish and foreign citizens. The result is that 18 years is a suitable age for marrying after a comparison with other Swedish laws and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Different age limits for swedish and foreign citizens could not be considered to be discriminating according to the Swedish Constitution, but on the other hand it is discriminating according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.</p>

<p>Even though many states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and sworn to protect human rights, viloations occur every day both in developed and developing countries. United Nations gave Sweden critique for not implementing the Convention conrerning article 11, which raises the question how respected the Convention is amongst other states? Does democracy contribute to a higher level of implementation?</p>

The Swedish rules for marrying in Sweden are different for swedish citizens and foreigners. A swedish citizen has to have permission from"Länsstyrelsen"to marry before the age of 18 but a foreigner may marry without permission at an age of 15, unless a higher age is required by the foreign law. The main question in this essay is if the swedish international law concerning the age of marriage is compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and/or the Swedish Constitution. The comparison is based on mainly two questions: Primarily the Swedish international law is discussed concerning which marrying age is good for the child. Thereafter it is discussed whether it is discriminating to have different marrying ages for swedish and foreign citizens. The result is that 18 years is a suitable age for marrying after a comparison with other Swedish laws and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Different age limits for swedish and foreign citizens could not be considered to be discriminating according to the Swedish Constitution, but on the other hand it is discriminating according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was ratified by Sweden in 1990. Among its principles is devotion to the best interests of the child (article 3). This principle is hard to define, and it is difficult to find studies on how children express themselves about how the convention should be realized. The Swedish government wants local councils to introduce routines that follow the proposed rights. The Swedish school system is an important arena where UNCRC’s rights can be put into practice. This study’s purpose is to discover how the Swedish upper secondary schools follow article 3, using pupils’ description of what is best for them as a starting point. Two pupil focus-group interviews have been used to obtain this description, and the pupils views were divided into four main themes: Security, Reception, Studies and development and Influence. These were converted into questionniares for two schools. The result was analyzed using empowerment and SOC (sense of coherence) as theoretical perspectives. Some answers differed between the schools as to how the principle of article 3 is fulfilled. The majority of the pupils are happy with their schools, in spite of difficulties with structural conditions and that life at school isn’t always on the pupils’ conditions.

Abstract This paper examines the right to family life and how it can conflict with the child’s right to protection against harm. The paper examines how the international community views the family and what rights the family has in international law.  In addition to this, the paper also looks at the different family structure a family can have and it also examine whether there are a universal definition of family. Furthermore, the paper also talks about the children and the rights afforded to them and how the rights has developed through time. The concept of childhood is a much-debated issue. There have been debates on when the childhood begins but also on when it ends and the views of the States differs somewhat. Childhood is a concept that is heavy with different psychological, physical, religious and cultural believes and practices. When the States was working on the Convention on the Rights of the Child they had to try to consolidate the different views on both the beginning and the end of childhood but it proved to be problematic. To say that the childhood began at conception would have made the convention incompatible with the national law that allows abortion and it could therefore risk that some States did not sign the convention. They therefore made a compromise that meant that the States could keep their own definition on the beginning of childhood. The family as well as the well-being of the child is important and this is reflects in international law. This paper therefore also examines the articles in international and regional treaties concerning the family and the protection of the child.  It also examines several cases from the European Court of Human Rights to illustrate how the Court has reasoned in cases where rights of the parents has been in conflict with the children’s rights and best interest. The conclusion drawn from this paper is that no set of rights weigh more than the other. They are both very important and if it is possible, the authorities shall try to balance them with each other. They have to have both what would be best for the child and the parents right to family life in mind. Even if the authorities have to remove a child from the parents care they need to have a reunification of the family as a ultimate goal to work towards.

As a contribution towards the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), this qualitative, comparative policy study investigated the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) within the Scottish and Canadian educational systems. The researcher adopted an inductive, grounded methodology which is argued to be most congruent when building theory is the chief aim (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Glaser, 2005). During 20 months of fieldwork, 50 key informant interviews were obtained in Geneva, New York, Scotland and Canada. The author contends that postmodern thinking has contributed much towards contemporary childhood research, yet an underlying deconstruction of the CRC constrains theoretical development. To address this breakdown of overarching leitmotifs within the social sciences (Esping-Andersen, 2000), the sociology of human rights is utilised as a conceptual framework (Luhmann, 1965, 1982, 1997; Q'Byrne, 2003; Verschraegen, 2002). Furthermore, through the integration of grounded and autopoietic coding (Glaser, 2005), the interview texts revealed six thematic categories that contradict dominant theoretical approaches in the child rights literature. While descriptive and comparative analyses revealed the study's core category of participation, an interpretive analysis further yielded its core distinction of power. The author argues that Scottish efforts to implement the CRC within educational policies are more widespread than any of those currently underway within Canadian jurisdictions (Mitchell, 2002, 2003a, b). Finally, a grounded systemic child rights model developed from the study's methodological and epistemological integration illustrates how CRC knowledge and power are balanced within and across educational systems (Mitchell, 2005).

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur barnkonventionens artikel 12, barns rätt att komma till tals tillämpas i familjebehandling genom att göra en pilotstudie. Familjebehandlare inom kommunens öppenvård fick svara på hur de gjorde barn delaktiga, på vilket sätt barn kom till tals och ifall det fanns tillfällen när barn inte skulle delta i familjebehandlingen. För att få svar på dessa frågor gjordes en semistrukturerad telefonintervju. Den valda teorin var systemteori.  Studien innefattade även familjebehandling, barnkonventionen och BBIC. Resultatet visade att familjebehandlarna använde olika arbetsmetoder för att få barn att komma till tals. Det fanns en stor flexibilitet kring metoderna att göra barn delaktiga och kring att skapa möjlighet för att få barn att prata. Det fanns tillfällen då barn inte skulle delta i familjebehandlingen till exempel när föräldrarna hade egna svårigheter och när det är fanns övervägande vuxenproblem. / The purpose of the study was to investigate if the article 12 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child to be heard is applied in family treatment by making a pilot study. Family practitioners within the municipal outpatients care had to answer how they did involve the children, the manner in which children were heard and if there were times when children should not be participate in family treatment. To get answers to these questions a semi-structured survey was made. The selected theory was systems theory.  The study also included the Convention of the Rights of the Child, family treatment and BBIC. The results showed that family practitioners used various methods to get children to be heard. There was a lot of flexibility around these practices making children involved and creating the opportunity to get children to talk. There were times when children should not participate in family therapy for example when parents had their own difficulties and when it was a predominantly adult problem.

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).

This thesis presents a study on how school children in Kenya and Sweden express their views on children’s rights, in particular rights related to participation, non-discrimination, and education. The overall purpose was to explore the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, its claim to be universal and its relevance for children in various school and life contexts. Group interviews were conducted with 58 children, aged 12-15 years, from four schools, two schools from each country. The interviews were introduced with an exercise of nine articles from the UN Convention which the groups were asked to discuss and rank from the most to the least important. The aim of the exercise was to make the UN articles known to the children and to open up for a conversation about rights. The theoretical framing for the study is anchored in the tradition of sociology of childhood. Analyses of empirical data were based on the cultural politics of childhood, and the concepts vulnerability and separability. Accordingly, children are viewed as sharing the common experience of being children, but also as experiencing diverse everyday lives. They are regarded as social agents, whose voices carry perspectives important to be listened to. They are also looked upon as able to form and express their views and knowledge in relation to local economical, social and political conditions. The results showed that the children talked about themes and situations that were both common and diverse. They talked more about children’s needs than about children’s rights. Needs for ‘extended’ protection were particularly expressed, i.e. the importance of stable relationships with parents and other adults and peers. The study also showed that when issues on relationships with adults, participation and decision making were discussed, the children expressed experiences of being viewed as subordinated in a way that could be referred to as their inherent and structural vulnerability. A third important result showed that values and norms related to non-discrimination were largely produced and reproduced in peer-cultures. Finally, the children connected education to economical growth, for individuals as well as for societies. The overall conclusion from the study is that children view the UN Convention as a problem solver for children in exposed situations rather than as a document for their everyday life. From a child perspective, rights hold relational qualities, manifested in relationships with adults and peers. Furthermore, the study underlines that the young right holder is a ‘both-and’ child: both global and local, both being and becoming, and both dependent and independent.