Promoting rights or avoiding litigation? The introduction of the human rights act 1998 into adult social care in England

Rights to social care in England have traditionally been highly restricted. By placing positive obligations on social care agencies and practitioners to make provision for vulnerable adults, the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998 promised to extend their reach. Yet transforming a set of largely procedural rights into something more substantive requires the active intervention of social care practitioners. This article firstly examines the fit between human rights and the policy and operational contexts of social care before exploring the views of social workers included in a recent interview study. Whilst the findings point to a willingness on the part of some to advocate on behalf of vulnerable adults, they also highlight the extent to which individualistic beliefs about dependency and responsibility reinforce the dominant construction of citizenship rights under the current government as contingent upon the fulfilment of responsibilities. Treating the Human Rights Act as a weapon of litigation, the article concludes, simply reinforces defensive practice. Progressive change is best supported by fostering a human rights culture in social care which, in turn, depends upon challenging social workers’ assumptions about the nature of dependency, responsibility and rights.     

Kevin and Peter: responses to two ‘preventable deaths’

European welfare states have substantial provision to ensure that children are brought up in conditions that meet the articles of the United Nations’ Convention of the Rights of the Child. In our analysis of two preventable deaths in Germany and England, we focus primarily on Article 18, which directs states to ensure that there is adequate provision to support parents in their responsibilities, and Article 19, which ensures children’s safety and protection. We outline the legal framework, which existed at the time of two child deaths: Kevin from Bremen and Peter in London, both young children who were subject to formal state supervision and oversight. The events – including the press response, their aftermath and the subsequent changes to social work practice through legislation and guidance will be examined. Our subsequent analysis will evaluate the extent to which events altered the balance between Articles 18 and 19 in the two countries, and the extent to which a Children’s Rights approach in this area offers new insights. The analysis will suggest that a rights-based approach offers some benefits for a comparative framework and understanding child and family social work, but also that it is not without some difficulties.     

(Re)producing Statelessness via Indirect Gender Discrimination: Descendants of Haitian Migrants in the Dominican Republic

Gender discrimination as a risk factor for statelessness has been understood as direct discrimination whereby legal frameworks prohibit mothers from conferring their nationality. This article discusses research findings from the Dominican Republic where indirect gender discrimination, evident in documentation and birth registration practices applicable to Haitian migrants and descendants, is causing matrilineal transmission of statelessness. Restricting access to citizenship has become a form of migration control, just as the creation of temporary, ad hoc status forms allows the state to sidestep responsibilities for migrant incorporation. If the links between gender and statelessness are not only legal, but also historical, structural, and procedural, then disrupting this cycle requires more than legal reform. For advocacy campaigns, such as UNHCR's #IBelong Campaign and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, to be successful, they must adopt a broader interpretation of the relationship between gender and statelessness, based on CEDAW's substantive conception of gender equality.     

‘No‐one respects them anyway’: secondary school students’ perceptions of human rights education in Turkey

The incorporation of compulsory courses on human rights into the secondary school curriculum in 1998 has been an important first step in developing respect for human rights and responsibilities among the younger generation in Turkey. Yet, these courses have many shortcomings in terms of materials, pedagogy and teacher attitudes. This paper explores Grades 7 and 8 (ages 13 and 14) students’ experiences in Citizenship and Human Rights Education courses on the basis of qualitative data collected through focus group discussions in Ankara and Istanbul in the 2006–2007 academic year. The responses of the students indicate that these courses have had little impact in empowering students or in facilitating them to consider their own or others’ human rights as an integral part of their lives. Rather, the students perceive the national and the global arena as characterized by mass human rights violations against which they feel powerless. The paper draws attention to the importance of a revised human rights education for students along with a global focus and appropriate methodology.     

Interrogating the Concentration on the UNCRC Instead of the ECHR in the Development of Children's Rights in England?

This review seeks to question the marked concentration in the work of both government and non‐governmental agencies on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is not part of the law in England, as contrasted with the relative absence of reference to the European Convention on Human Rights, which has, since 2 October 2000, been a part of English law through the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998. The concentration on the UNCRC both in speeches (Hughes) and guidance emanating from government departments and agencies Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, Department for Education and Skills, and non‐governmental agencies (UNICEF UK) is noteworthy but raises critical questions as to why equal attention is not focused on the European Convention of Human Rights.     

THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION

"Equality Of Rights Under The Law Shall Not Be Denied Or Abridged By The United States Or By Any State On Account Of Sex"— Proposed Equal Rights Amendment     

An Overview of the Victims’ Rights Movement: Historical,Legislative, and Research Developments†

The Victims' Rights Movement has made considerable accomplishments since the 1960s, when an increasing crime rate, coupled with the underreporting of crime, inspired concerns regarding crime victims. In subsequent decades the Victims' Rights Movement evolved and gained considerable momentum. This paper examines the historical development of the Victims' Rights Movement, including the movement's focus on specific types of victimization and crimes. State and Federal responses to the movement are also presented, with attention to constitutional developments and debates. Finally, current issues are presented and future research is suggested.     

Twenty Years on: The Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the United Kingdom

Since ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, the UK Government has submitted three reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This article explains the reporting process and provides an overview of the most recent recommendations from the Committee.     

The Australian Disability Rights Movement Lives

The Australian Disability Rights Movement is surviving despite funding threats to advocacy programmes. The integral relationship of advocacy funding to the Australian Disability Rights Movement is outlined. A brief history of the Australian Disability Rights' Movement is given, and whether this is a new social movement, or not, is discussed. The role of Women With Disabilities Australia is outlined.     

Rights and Access to Plant Genetic Resources under India's New Law

Recognition of ‘Farmer's Rights’ is an attempt by developing countries to evolve a counterclaim to breeders' Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) promoted under the TRIPs Agreement of the WTO. India is one of the first countries to have granted rights to both breeders and farmers under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001. This multiple rights system aims to distribute rights equitably, but may pose the threat of an ‘anticommons tragedy’ i.e. too many parties independently possessing the right to exclude others from utilising a resource. If under‐utilisation of plant genetic resources results, the Act will have negative consequences for sustaining crop productivity and for the welfare of the very farming communities it seeks to compensate.     

Intercountry Adoption

Abstract

In recent years, the practice of intercountry adoption is increasingly being debated within the context of human rights. Intercountry adoption raises many ethical and legal issues which are addressed in two international treaties: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, adopted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 1993. This paper compares the international standards provided by these instruments and the way they are being interpreted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the official monitoring body of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also discusses some of the measures undertaken by a number of countries in different regions of the world.     

中国履行《儿童权利公约》20年

第44届联合国大会通过的《儿童权利公约》．是迄今为止内容最丰富．最全面、最为国际社会广泛认可的规范儿童权利的国际公约．多年来，中国政府与世界各国一道．始终遵循并恪守公约宗旨和精神，以实际行动履行公约义务，落实儿童优先发展战略．确保儿童生存、保护、发展和参与等各项权利的实现．     

Books Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Theoretical perspectives on work and the employment relationship . Edited by Bruce E. KAUFMAN. Recent books: Does “trickle down” work? Economic development strategies and job chains in local labour markets . By Joseph PERSKY, Daniel FELSENSTEIN and Virginia CARLSON. La mondialisation: Origines, développements et effets . Third edition. Edited by James D. THWAITES. The economics of sustainable development . Edited by Sisay ASEFA. Work behavior of the world's poor: Theory, evidence and policy . By Mohammed SHARIF. Workers and narratives of survival in Europe: The management of precariousness at the end of the twentieth century . Edited by Angela PROCOLI. New ILO Publications: A global alliance against forced labour . Global Report under the Follow‐up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Report of the Director‐General. International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report I (B). Promotional framework for occupational safety and health . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report IV (2). Reconciling work and family responsibilities: Practical ideas from global experience . By Catherine HEIN. Work in the fishing sector . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report V (2A). Youth: Pathways to decent work. Promoting youth employment ‐ Tackling the challenge . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report VI.     

Economic Development,Human Rights - and the Omelette Thesis

People Matter — Views on International Human Rights Policy. By Theo van Boven, collected and introduced by Hans Thoolen. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1982. 186pp. Development, Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Report of a Conference held in The Hague, 27 April-1 May 1981, convened by the International Commission of Jurists. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982. 237pp.     

The future of children's rights

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was a great achievement. The rights strategy must continue to be pursued. The Convention itself is an imperfect instrument and a new Convention or Protocols needs to address many children whose rights are currently neglected, including disabled children, gay children, girl children and street children. Rights themselves need rethinking, and so does the reporting and implementation process. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Explaining the Emergence Process of the Civil Rights Protest in Northern Ireland (1945–1968): Insights from a Relational Social Movement Approach1

Abstract This article explains how the contingent of complex interactions among pre-existing structural settings, institutional constraints, processes of regional and international transformative events, and uniquely combined developments within and between different contenders in the aftermath of the Second World War shaped Northern Ireland socio and political relations and thus instigated the Civil Rights Movement mobilization process. By re-introducing the time-space context into our studies of collective action, through a relational reading, my intent first is to advance our understanding of those episodes and complex patterns of interaction that give rise to social movements, and second to move beyond the static movement-centric approach explanation and away from the a-historical nature of much of the social movement literature. My historical-sociological research, into the longitudinal case study of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement mobilization, involves secondary and new empirical primary sources, such as archival analysis, qualitative examination of Northern Ireland daily newspapers during the 1960s, and the collection of 35 semi-structured interviews with key players from the Civil Rights Movement.     

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. [Excepts

This excerpt focuses on the laws concerning the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families. The excerpt takes into account the principles contained in the basic instruments of the UN about human rights; particularly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Emphasized is the law stating that migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to receive medical care that is required for the preservation of their life or the avoidance of irreparable harm to their health on the basis of equality of treatment, along with nationals. It also grants migrant workers equality of treatment, along with nationals, with regard to access to social and health services, provided that the requirements for participation in the respective schemes are met.     

The Movements of Working Children and the International Labour Organization. A Lesson on Enforced Silence

Relations between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and grassroots movements of working children are characterised by tensions. Working children's claim to participate in conceptualising child labour policy is increasingly rejected. Most recently, in November 2017, the Latin American Movement of Working Children and Adolescents (MOLACNATs) lodged a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child over violations of rights enshrined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article reconstructs the history of working children's movements and their communication with ILO since the 1990s.     

Using transformative learning as a model for human rights education: a case study of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation's International Human Rights Training Program

This paper examines the essential practices and conditions for fostering transformative learning using the Canadian Human Rights Foundation's International Human Rights Training Program as a case study. It suggests that the program's participants challenge their own values and assumptions about human rights, their work and their society through critical reflection. Consequently, it argues that if human rights educators are to contribute to the transformative education of others, it is necessary for them to understand the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the learning process associated with human rights education.     

The contribution of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to understanding and promoting the interests of young people making the transition from care to adulthood

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) acknowledges that young people without parental care are entitled to special support and assistance from the State. In detailing their expectations, the UN Committee have issued Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children which recognise that State parties have a number of responsibilities towards care leavers. The paper explores how the UNCRC reporting process, and guidelines from the Committee outlining how States should promote the rights of young people making the transition from care to adulthood, can be used as an instrument to track global patterns of change in policy and practice. Content analysis of State Party Reports and Concluding Observations from 15 countries reveals that to date there has been limited engagement with understanding and promoting the needs of this group in the reporting process; although where a government is committed to developing legislation and practice then this does find its way into their national reports. Data supplied by affiliates of the International Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care (INTRAC) reveals that national concerns, political ideology, public awareness, attitudes and knowledge of the vulnerability of care leavers influence service responses to protect and promote the rights of this group and the attention afforded to such issues in reports to the Committee. Findings also suggest that global governance is not simply a matter of top down influence. Future work on both promoting and monitoring of the impact of the UNCRC needs to recognise that what is in play is the management of a complex global/national dynamic with all its uneven development, levels of influence and with a range of institutional actors involved.