The Weak Enforcement Mechanism of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, hereafter referred to as ‘CRC’, is the most inclusive legal document devoted to the promotion and protection of children’s rights. Upon ratification, State Parties are supposed to be bound to the CRC through international law. However, as Cynthia Price Cohen (one of the drafters of the CRC) identifies, the CRC ‘does not lay down specific rules with sanctions for noncompliance’. Thus, it is imperative that the CRC have enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure implementation. This essay will discuss how the existing weak enforcement mechanism is hindering the State Parties from reaching the objectives of the CRC.

II. THE EXISTING ENFORCEMENT MECHANISM OF THE CRC

Presently, there is one system of enforcement for the CRC and that is the State Party reporting process. Article 44 of the CRC obligates each State Party to submit reports regarding their implementation of the CRC. In Article 43, the CRC provides for a monitoring body, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, hereafter referred to as the ‘Committee’. While Article 43 establishes the Committee, it does not explicitly define the parameters of its role. This means that the Committee in theory is left with a window of opportunity to be creative in its position to increase the CRC’s success.

The reporting mechanism enables the Committee to engage in a constructive dialogue with State Parties which includes recommendations for improvement. However, the Committee, as a monitoring body, has no power to compel Parties to implement those recommendations. This has created an opportunity for State Parties to evade their responsibilities. It is an apparent frailty to the design, and this lack of explicit power has been a ...

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At the moment, the active mechanism of enforcement is weak and is limiting the implementation of children’s rights by States Parties. In sum, it lacks teeth. Some of its flaws are imposed by external factors, and others are self-imposed. Even when State Parties take steps to comply with the CRC, by establishing compatible legislation and domestic mechanisms, they will at times inevitably fall short.

To be successful, the enforcement mechanisms must be able to do a great deal more. As child law is still being navigated, it is of the utmost importance that State Parties be piloted with a firm hand during this evolutionary period. The children deserve an international mechanism that is powerful. There will be little benefit from not one that gently, and politely, points States in the general direction of what is truly in the best interest of the children.