The legal context for implementation of international law
Contents- The CRC Framework
- Wider Framework for Children’s Rights
- Key elements of a Children's Rights Based Approach to legislative reform
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The legal context for implementation of international law
- Dualism Vs Monism
- Common law tradition
- Civil law tradition
- Islamic law and legal systems
- Mixed or Pluralist Legal Systems
- Legislative Reform in Unitary States Vs Federal States
- Legislative Reform in Devolved States
- General reflection on local and regional governments in the context of children’s right legislative reform
- Guidance of the CRC Committee on decentralisation, federalisation and delegation
General reflection on local and regional governments in the context of children’s right legislative reform
Local and regional governments
Within the State, power is usually divided between different levels of government: national, regional and local governments and cities. Decentralisation is the dominant arrangement for governance in many States worldwide (Hoffman 2019). Arrangements vary but typically provide for local control, including legislative competence in some cases, in policy areas such as health, education, housing and welfare, often accompanied by fiscal decentralisation.
States Parties’ obligations under international human rights law extend to all levels and branches of government. The CRC Committee emphasises that “decentralization of power, through devolution and delegation of government, does not in any way reduce the direct responsibility of the State party’s Government to fulfil its obligations to all children within its jurisdiction, regardless of the State structure” (CRC GC 5, para. 40).
States Parties have to ensure that devolved authorities have the necessary financial, human and other resources to effectively discharge responsibilities for the implementation of the CRC. However, the governments of States Parties must retain powers to require full compliance with the CRC by devolved administrations or local authorities and must establish permanent monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the CRC is respected and applied for all children within its jurisdiction without discrimination. There must be safeguards to ensure that decentralisation or devolution do not lead to discrimination in the enjoyment of rights by children in different regions (CRC GC 5, para. 41).