Alternative Means of Child Care Considerations from the Perspective of Article 20 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989
Abstract
Millions of children around the world are deprived of their familyenvironment. All those children are a particularly vulnerable group and therefore there are entitled to special protection and assistance from the State. The basis for that protection have been incorporated into the provision of Article 20 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 which requires from the States to ensure alternative care for such children. The aim of the article is to present the scope and content of Article 20 of the CRC. The author focuses on the interpretation of the most essential terms used in Article 20, such as “family environment” and “deprivation of child’s family environment.” She also analyses the nature and content of State’s obligations towards a child living outside his or her family. The analysis of Article 20 is made from the legal perspective. Analyzed are the Travaux Préparatories of the article in question,
Article 20 itself, The UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children adopted in 2010, others provisions of the CRC and other relevant international documents and chosen subject literature.
References
I. International documents:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dec. 10, 1948, A/
RES/3/217 A.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1959, UN Doc. A/RES/1386 (XIV).
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, A/RES/21/2200 A Annex 2.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, A/RES/21/2200 A Annex 1.
The 1978 report of the Commission on Human Rights, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1292, 1978.
The Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children, with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption Nationally and Internationally, Dec. 3, 1986, UN Doc. A/RES/41/85.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1989, 28 I.L.M. 1456, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, July 11, 1990, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49 (1990).
CCPR General comment No. 19: Article 23 (The Family), Protection of the Family, the Right to Marriage and Equality of the Spouses,adopted at the Thirty-ninth session of the Human Rights Committee, on 27 July 1990, Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1 at 28 (1994).
The UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, Feb. 24 2010, UN Doc. A /RES/64/142*.
II. Literature:
Le Blanc L.J., The Convention on the Rights of the Child – United Nations Lawmaking on Human Rights, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London 1995.
Van Bueren G., The International Law on the Rights of the Child, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague/ Boston/London 1998.
Cantwell N., Holzcheiter A., Article 20: Children Deprived of Their Family Environment, in: A. Alen, J. Vande Lanotte, E. Verhellen, F. Ang, E. Berghmans and M. Verheyde, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden/ Boston 2008.
Detrick S. et al., The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A Guide to the “Travaux Preparatoires”, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht/ Boston/ London 1992.
Legislative History of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Volume II, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, New York and Geneva 2007.
III. Internet sources:
Children without parental care, <http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58004.html>.
Family separation in emergencies, <http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_57994.html>.
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