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