The Emergence and Development of International Protection of the Rights of the Child (Oleg Starovoitov)

Раздел - "Международное право", рубрика - "Международная и национальная защита прав ребёнка"International protection of the rights of the child is a system of coordinated activities of the state and non-governmental organizations aimed at the development and provision of the rights of the child in order to form an all-round developed individual, at their codification within the framework of national legislation and bringing international assistance to the children of the under-developed countries. The international protection is carried out in several directions: 1) developing declarations, resolutions and conventions aimed at the preparation of international standards in the sphere of protection of the right of the child; 2) establishing of a special monitoring agency for protection of the rights of the child; 3) assisting in adjustment of national legislation to international commitments (implementation activities); 4) humanitarian aid through UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The most resultative activities concern the norm development in the sphere of protection of the right of the child. They were carried out along two directions: 1) the codification of the rights of the child in general declarations and conventions on human rights or in international agreements, which regulate the rights of certain social groups, closely connected with the child (e. g. women rights) or, to some exent, the relations in the sphere of the family, labour law, education; 2) development of declarations and conventions which specially regulate the right of the child. The Geneva declaration of the rights of the child of 1924 adopted by the League of Nations laid down the beginning of the formation of international protection of the rights of the child. However, the final structure of international protection was formed within the EU framework after World War II. One of its underlying principles was the proclamation of respect for human rights and freedoms without any discrimination. Already in the first international legal instruments on human rights (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, international Covenants on human rights 1966), a number of provisions was formulated, closely connected with the rights and freedoms of the child. For the development of the measures of protection of the rights of the child a social commission and UNICEF were set up within the UN framework. Besides, specialized agencies related to the UN are also concerned with this problem. They are the International Labour Organization, World Health Organization and the UNESCO. A special document completely devoted to the rights of the child, is the Declaration on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN in 1959; it contains the principles on which any state policy providing for the rights of the child should be based. 1989 saw the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which summarized all the present experience of norms development and the new concepts concerning the protection of the rights of the child. The convention for the first time considers the child to be not only an object who requires special protection, but also as a subject of law who is entitled to the whole spectrum of human rights. Within the framework of the Convention the international Monitoring Committee on the Rights of the Child was established. It is authorized to consider periodical (once in 5 years) reports on measures taken in order to implement the Provisions of the Convention. On 27.06.90 the Republic of Belarus ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and thus committed itself to adjusting its legislation to the Convention. For this purpose the Republic has adopted the law on the Rights of the Child, the National Plan of Protection of the Rights of the Child and a number of other normative acts in order to protect the rights of the child. A National Commission on the Rights of the Child has been set up. Although the Republic of Belarus has adopted rather a big number of normative acts on protection of the rights and interests of children, the main drawback is the lack of the efficient mechanism of protection of the right of the child. The question about the establishment in the Republic of the post of ombudsman on the right of the child and juvenile courts is being considered at present