As mentioned in Chapter 2, international standards for the guarantee of child rights, and in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICRC), cover important areas of ESC rights protection.[217]
The protection of the rights of the child, including the judicial bodies charged with such protection, are important for ESC rights adjudication in various ways. In particular:
- International and national law for the protection of child rights include and specify or even expand the normative and protection framework of ESC rights;[218]
- The principle of the best interests of the child, and overriding principle governing all rights of the child, can be used strategically to protect children rights within their families and communities and thus contribute to the protection of the rights of other members of these families and communities.
A recent case decided by a juvenile court in Guatemala is illustrative of this relationship between child rights and ESC rights and offers an example that is likely to be of interest for practitioners involved or interested in ESC rights adjudication.
→ Cases No. 19003-2011-00638-Of.1a; No. 19003-2011-00639-Of.2a; No. 19003- 2011-00637-Of.3a; No. 19003-2011- 00641-Of.1
Footnotes (↵ returns to text)
- 217. See Chapter 2, section II.2.↵
- 218. The Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees and applies to children a whole range of ESC rights, including the rights to education and health.↵