CHILDREN'S SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS DEMOCRCY AND THE COURTSPDF电子书下载

1.Children and Socio-economic Rights 1

Introduction 1

Of Definitions and Other Things 1

The Emergence and Reframing of Children as Socio-economic Rights-Holders 7

Children： A Special Case？ 13

Socio-economic Rights： A Question of Definition and the Challenge of ‘Nature’ 21

Children’s Socio-economic Rights： The Role of International Law 32

Turning to the ‘Least Powerful Branch’： Points of Entry and the Scope of Judicial Activity 38

Conclusion 42

2.Children and Democracy 43

Introduction 43

Democracy： A Term in Search of a Definition 44

Setting the Scene： The Child as ‘Democratic Citizen’ 46

Representation of Children in Democracy 49

Representation of Children by Elected Representatives 50

Representation of Children by Parents 56

Parents Representing Their Own Children’s Interests 56

Parents Representing Children’s Interests Generally 61

Representation of Children by Adults Generally 64

Ensuring Virtual Representation Through Sympathy or Empathy 69

Other Means of Bringing Children’s Interests to Bear in Democracy 71

Child Lobby Groups 73

Ombudspersons 75

The Role of Children’s Participation Rights 77

Other Reasons for Children’s Inability to Exert Indirect Influence on Democratic Decision-making Processes 83

A Brief Note on Failure of Representation 88

Conclusion 92

3.Exploring the ‘Counter-Majoritarian Objection’ 93

Introduction 93

The Counter-Majoritarian Difficulty： A Brief Account 94

Children’s Socio-economic Rights， the Majoritarian Premise and the 98

Desirability that the Legislature Should Have the Final Word 98

Children， Democracy and ‘The Core of the Case Against Judicial Review’ 101

Disagreement， Majority Voting， Equal Respect and Children’s Socio-economic Rights 103

Where Representatives Fail to Represent 112

Children and the ‘Tyranny of the Majority’ 118

Enter Ely 120

Ely’s Theory of Representation Reinforcing Judicial Review and Children： A Step Too Far？ 125

Conclusion 131

4.A Question of Balance？ The Separation of Powers， Constitutional Supremacy and Children’s Socio-economic Rights 134

Introduction 134

The Separation of Powers Doctrine and the Judicial Enforcement of Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Some Initial Observations 136

The Separation of Powers and the Judicial Function under the Irish and South African Constitutions 140

The Context for Judicial Action： The TD and TAC Cases 153

Giving Effect to Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Part of the Traditional Judicial Function？ 155

The Nature of Socio-economic Rights： Alleged Implications for the Separation of Powers 156

The Challenge of Remedies？ 160

Ensuring the Vindication of Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Justifying an Infringement of the Separation of Powers？ 162

Ireland， South Africa and Children’s Socio-economic Rights： A Study in Contrasts？ 163

Ireland， South Africa： A Tale of Two Approaches to Remedies 172

The Irish and the South African Courts： Striking a Different Balance？ 176

Enforcing Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Part of the Courts’ Duty under the Separation of Powers？ 180

Children In Democracy， the Court’s Role as Guardian of the Constitution and its Approach to the Separation of Powers 182

Conclusion 185

5.The Issue of Efficacy 187

Introduction 187

Evaluating Efficacy 188

Courts and Socio-economic Rights： A Case of Institutional Incapacity？ 191

An Information Deficit？ 193

A Lack of Expertise， Qualifications or Experience？ 197

The Issue of Polycentricity 200

Socio-economic Rights and ‘Limited’ Judicial Remedies 204

The Challenge of Implementation 207

Ensuring Enforcement： Other Key Factors 212

The Role of Social Movements 213

The Role of ‘Popular Legitimacy’ 215

Conclusion 218

6.Using the Courts to Advance Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Proceed with Caution？ 220

Introduction 220

Employing the Law to Bring About the Enforcement of Children’s Socio-economic Rights： The Drawbacks 221

Representation and Agenda-Setting 221

The Partial Nature of Legal Solutions 232

Courts： Part of the Problem？ 234

Of Straitjackets and Obligation Limitations： Judicial Enforcement as ‘Blocking’ the Vindication of Children’s Socio-economic Rights？ 241

Judicial Enforcement of Children’s Socio-economic Rights： Serving Some Children While Disadvantaging Others？ 244

Conclusion 255

7.Conclusions 257

Select Bibliograpy 260

Index 285