Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Challenges of Vagueness and Priorities

Citation

Sutherland EE (2016) Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Challenges of Vagueness and Priorities. In: Sutherland E & Macfarlane L (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, pp. 21-50. http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/law/un-and-international-organisations/implementing-article-3-united-nations-convention-rights-child-best-interests-welfare-and-well-being?format=HB#contentsTabAnchor

Abstract
As one of the four general principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 3, is of pervasive application. Article 3(1) imposes on States the comprehensive obligation to make the best interests of the child a primary consideration in all actions concerning the child. The ‘best interests’ test has long been ascribed a Janus-like quality, exemplifying the virtue of flexibility and the vice of vagueness. This characteristic, along with the level of priority to be accorded to best interests, presents a challenge in implementing the provision. Sometimes overshadowed by their omnipresent sibling, Articles 3(2) and 3(3) address the State’s obligations to ensure the care and protection of children and its standard-setting and oversight role in respect of institutions, services and facilities designed to meet that end, introducing another somewhat-ambiguous term, ‘well-being’.This chapter sets the scene for those that follow by highlighting the goals of the drafters of article 3; exploring the content of the obligations it creates; and evaluating the extent to which various international bodies, particularly the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, have been successful in clarifying the obligations of States Parties under Article 3.

Keywords
Article 3; Convention on the Rights of the Child; child; best interests; well-being; welfare; General Comment 14; drafting; implementation; Concluding Observations

People

Professor Elaine Sutherland

Emeritus Professor, Law