I Book Review: Deprivation of Liberty of Children in Light of International Human Rights Law and Standards
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411002800309 |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Part C: DocumentationI Book Review |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 28/3, 483–512, 2010.
© Netherlands I nstitute of Human Ri ghts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands. 483
PART C: DOCUMENTATION
I BOOK REVIEWS
Ton Liefaard, Deprivation of Liberty of Children in Light of International Human
Rights Law and S tandards, School of Human Rights Resea rch Series, Intersentia,
Antwerp, 2008 , 696 + xxx p., ISBN: 978–90–5095 –838–7*
With this book on the deprivation of liberty of children i n light of hu man rights
law, Liefaard has made an import ant contribution to chi ldren’s rights. All too oen,
children’s rights are st udied rather supercially (if at all), and disconnected from t he
general human rights f ramework. Liefaard has avoided both pitfalls: he has produced
a fairly comprehensive and in-depth st udy of the topic, and has managed to integrate
and contextu alise specic children’s rights provisions into the overal l human rig hts
law framework. Moreover, he oers a sophisticated integ rated picture of a ll relevant
international norms, regardless of their hard or so nature. Given their dierent
degrees of spec icity, binding treaty provisions on the one hand, and g uidelines and
principles on the other hand , complement each other and benet therefore from an
integrated reading.
e book consists of two ma in parts. e rst par t focuses on the relevant
international huma n rights law and standards. e second par t deals with the
deprivation of liberty of chi ldren in the Netherlands. Notwithst anding the broad
reference to deprivation of liber ty in the title , the book is mainly concerned with the
deprivation of liberty of ch ildren in the context of juvenile justice.
e rst par t on the international lega l framework is covered in t he chapters two
and three . Chapter two (‘International Human Rights L aw and Standards regarding
Deprivation of Liberty of Children’) oers a historica l account of the emergence of
a normative framework for the deprivation of liberty of children, i ncluding general
human rights law, t he 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Chi ld (CRC), and t he
1990 UN Rules for the Protect ion of Juveniles Deprived of eir Libert y (Havana
Rules). ese in struments are a nalysed along two ordeni ng principles: one is the
distinction bet ween international and regional instruments , the other the distinction
between provisions that are direct ly applicable to individuals deprived of their l iberty
(for example the right to l iberty), and prov isions t hat are ‘especia lly relevant’ to
individuals deprived of their liberty (for example the prohibition of tor ture; fair tria l
and so on).
* Wouter Vandenhole is profe ssor at t he University of Antwerp Law Research School, Law and
Development Re search Group and UN ICEF Chair in Chi ldren’s Rights, Antwerp, Belgium.
UNICEF respect s the academic freedom of the chair holder. Opinions ex pressed by the chair holder
do not commit UNICE F.
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