Study on child labour laws : violations of children's rights in relation to child employment

Abstract

The study will circle around examination of current international instruments, which directly affect the standard of employment of children. The report will start with the examination of the concept of child labour from a historical perspective - the culture surrounding employment of children prior to industrialisation, during industrialisation and post industrialisation. The second chapter will consider the development of children's rights and the international principles of prioritisation of children's rights. Then, the work moves towards examination of the cases of child labour. Firstly, it will provide a law coverage on the international principles related to the child labour abuses. Secondly, it will move to examine the national policies. The main question here will be 'is the current system effective?' Child labour refers to the work in abusive working conditions, which infringe child rights and impact negatively on child physician and mental development; there is also a degree of explanation of the child when it comes to the practice of child labour; Child exploitation is understood primary in the terms of acquiring a financial gain from the child via arbitrary means, it may be related to the economic expectation of the child through labour, or be based on the activity of (commercial) sexual exploitation; Special protection under the International treaties, such as Geneva Convention 1924 or the Universal Declaration of Children Rights, children are recognised to be granted with additional level of the protections to render children rights abuses; it was stated that children are vulnerable groups that should be protected by all members of society to achieve the most harmonious development; when it comes to children rights, there is a higher level of threshold imposed on States to enact laws granting children with adequate level of protections; Special Measures, States are obligated to provide a special level of protection to the child, and it may require enacting specific regulations which prioritise the best interest of the child over the other interest; implementation of these measures means (i) enacting specific regulations, (ii) providing procedures for effective application of those rights and (iii) establishing the supervisory mechanism, which monitors the implementation and conformity of those regulations. ‘Best Interest of a child’, the doctrine of best interests means the child's interest should be given the utmost priorities while considering all matters in relation to the child.