OUVRAGE : E.E. Sutherland, L.-A. Barnes Macfarlane (eds.), Implementing Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Best Interests, Welfare and Well-being

Elaine E. SUTHERLAND, Lesley-Anne BARNES MACFARLANE

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is acknowledged as a landmark in the development of children's rights. Article 3 makes the child's best interests a primary consideration in all actions concerning children, and requires States Parties to ensure their care and protection. This volume, written by experts in children's rights from a range of jurisdictions, explores the implementation of Article 3 around the world. It opens with a contextual analysis of Article 3, before offering a critique of its implementation in various settings, including parenting, religion, domestic violence and baby switching. Amongst the themes that emerge are the challenges posed by the content of 'best interests', 'welfare' and 'well-being'; the priority to be accorded them; and the legal, socio-economic and other obstacles to legislating for children's rights. This book is essential for all readers who interact with one of the Convention's most fundamental principles.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Notes on contributors
Preface
Introduction: Elaine E. Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane

Part I. BEST INTERESTS, WELFARE AND WELL-BEING: A CONTEXTUAL OVERVIEW

1. Elaine E. Sutherland, Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: the challenges of vagueness and priorities  

2. Ursula Kilkelly, The best interests of the child: a gateway to children's rights?  

3. Janys M. Scott, Conflict between human rights and best interests of children: myth or reality?  

4. Mark Henaghan, Final appeal courts and Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: what do the best interests of the particular child have to do with it? 

Part II. CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGES OF ARTICLE 3

5. John Eekelaar, Two dimensions of the best interests principle: decisions about children and decisions affecting children  

6. Nancy E. Dowd, A developmental equality model for the best interests of children  

7. Alison Cleland, A long lesson in humility? The inability of childcare law to promote the well-being of children 

Part III. BEST INTERESTS AND BESTOWING PARENTAGE

8. Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane, Serving best interests in 'known biological father disputes' in the United Kingdom  

9. Kenneth McK. Norrie, Surrogacy in the United Kingdom: an inappropriate application of the welfare principle  

10. Trynie Boezaart, Baby switching: what is best for the baby?  

11. Brian Sloan, Primacy, paramountcy and adoption in England and Scotland  

12. Richard Whitecross, Article 3 and adoption in and from India and Nepal 

Part IV. PARENTING DISPUTES AND THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD

13. Nicholas Bala, Canada's controversy over best interests and post-separation parenting  

14. D. Kelly Weisberg, In harm's way: the evolving role of domestic violence in the best interests analysis  

15. Linda D. Elrod, The best interests of the child when there is conflict about contact  

16. Nicola Taylor, Relocation disputes following parental separation: determining the best interests of the child 

Part V. Best Interests and State Intervention

17. Claire McDiarmid, Making best interests significant for children who offend: a Scottish perspective  

18. Ioana Cismas, The child's best interests and religion: the Holy See's best interests obligations and clerical child sexual abuse  

19. Judy Cashmore, 'Best interests' in care proceedings: law, policy and practice  

20. Marit Skivenes and Karl Harald Søvig, Judicial discretion and the child's best interests: the European Court of Human Rights on adoptions in child protection cases 

Appendix 1. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Appendix 2. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 14 on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art 3, para 1), CRC/C/GC/14 (2013)
Index

Elaine E. SUTHERLAND, Lesley-Anne BARNES MACFARLANE (eds.), 

Implementing Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Best Interests, Welfare and Well-being, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016 (450 pp.)

Elaine E. Sutherland is Professor of Child and Family Law at the Law School, University of Stirling, Scotland, and Distinguished Professor of Law at Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon.

Dr Lesley-Anne Barnes Macfarlane is Lecturer in Child and Family Law at Edinburgh Napier University and has practised as a solicitor in Scotland, specialising in child and family law.