Human Rights

Children's Socio-Economic Rights, Democracy and the Courts

By Aoife Nolan
Hart Publishing September 2011

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781841137698
Publisher
Hart Publishing
Publication
September 2011
Format
Hardback , 336 pages
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

Despite the significant growth in academic interest in both children's rights and socio-economic rights over the last two decades, children's socio-economic rights are a comparatively neglected area. This is particularly true with regard to the role of the courts in the enforcement of such rights.

Nolan's book remedies this omission, focussing on the circumstances in which the courts can and should give effect to the socio-economic rights of children. The arguments put forward are located within the context of, and develop, long-standing debates in constitutional law, democratic theory and human rights. The claims made by the author are supported and illustrated by concrete examples of judicial enforcement of children's socio-economic rights from a variety of jurisdictions.

The work is thus rooted in both theory and practice. Nolan brings together and addresses a wide range of issues that have never previously been considered together in book form. These include:-

  • children's socio-economic rights;
  • children as citizens and their position in relation to democratic decision-making processes;
  • the implications of children and their rights for democratic and constitutional theory;
  • the role of the courts in ensuring the enforcement of children's rights;
  • and the debates surrounding the litigation and adjudication of socio-economic rights.

This book thus represents a major original contribution to the existing scholarship in a range of areas including human rights, legal and political theory and constitutional law.

'Children's rights were often thought to be synonymous with economic and social welfare prior to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. Ironically, since that time, remarkably little scholarship has been devoted to the vitally important economic and social rights dimensions of children's rights. Nolan's book singlehandedly remedies that neglect and does so in a sophisticated, nuanced and balanced way. It provides a superb account of the pros and cons of judicial activism in promoting these rights.'
Philip Alston, John Norton Pomeroy Professor, NYU Law School

'Thus far the burgeoning literature on the judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights has failed to engage in a sustained, systemic manner with this topic from the perspective of children and the complexity of their status as citizens within contemporary democracies. This book fills this gap and makes a major contribution to the literature in the three interrelated areas of the judicial review of socio-economic rights claims, children's rights, and democratic theory. Nolan navigates skilfully through the dense, but rich literature in these areas as well as relevant international and comparative law. In so doing she illuminates both the pitfalls and potential of resorting to courts in a partial response to the multifaceted and deeply entrenched global phenomenon of child poverty.'

Professor Sandra Liebenberg, HF Oppenheimer Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Stellenbosch Law Faculty.

 

About the Author

Aoife Nolan is Professor of International Human Rights Law at the School of Law, Nottingham University and was previously a Senior Lecturer at Durham Law School.

Reviews

Aoife Nolan addresses a crucial and underdeveloped topic in the literature of human rights law: the socio-economic rights of children.

In order to support the claim that the courts are not only able but obligated to enforce child socio-economic rights, Nolan provides a thorough analysis of liberal democratic theory, the role of children in democracy, the judiciary's role as guardian of rights, the institutional capacity of the courts to enforce the socio-economic rights, and the implementation of rights-related court decisions. The book is a necessary analysis of the efficacy and legitimacy of judicial action in favour of child rights. Nolan advocates for the implementation of a rights-based response to child poverty, a crucial driver of poor overall health, and in doing so provides a powerful contribution to health and human rights scholarship.
Judith Fitzpatrick
Health and Human Rights
Volume 13, No. 2, 2011

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