Postgraduate - UnitLAW5417 - Children's rights in international law

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Not offered in 2015

Quota applies

Postgraduate programs are based on a model of small group teaching and therefore class sizes need to be restricted.

Synopsis

Securing the rights of children remains a challenge in the 21st century. Children continue to be exploited and abused on a regular basis and the use of child labour and child soldiers continues. In addition, violence against children and the mistreatment of child refugees is a concern in many countries. This unit provides an in-depth analysis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its implementation around the world. It includes consideration of the historical development of children's rights; the various mechanisms in place in different countries for the implementation of the international norms pertaining to children's rights; the strengths and weaknesses of the UN processes for protecting children's rights, including the state reporting system; policy arguments for and against reform of the international system surrounding children's rights; and specific challenges to the full realisation of children's rights, including economic pressures, political will (or lack thereof) and social and cultural factors.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Apply knowledge of, and understanding of developments in relation to children's rights within the context of international human rights law with creativity and initiative for further learning;
Investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and policies in relation to in relation to children's rights within the context of international human rights law;
Conduct research in in relation to children's rights within the context of international human rights law based on knowledge of appropriate research principles and methods; and
Use cognitive, technical and creative skills to generate and evaluate at an abstract level complex ideas and concepts relevant to children's rights within the context of international human rights law.

Assessment

One research assignment (6,000 words): 80%
Class participation: 10%
Poster presentation: 10%

Workload requirements

Students enrolled in this unit will be provided with 24 contact hours of seminars per semester whether intensive, semi-intensive, or semester-long offering. Students will be expected to do reading set for class, and to undertake additional research and reading applicable to a 6 credit point unit.

Prerequisites

LAW5304