Child Soldiers in International Law [Hardcover]

Matthew Happold (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1929446640 | ISBN-13: 978-1929446643 | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Can the use of children as soldiers be effectively regulated at an international level? Child Soldiers in International Law examines how international law has developed to deal with this problematic and emotive issue. Happold looks at the rules restricting the recruitment of children into armed forces - rules which, though important, are often flouted - but also at the wider legal issues arising from child soldiering: to what extent can child soldiers be held criminally liable for their conduct? How should they be treated when captured? How are states obliged to demobilise and reintegrate them into their societies? It also identifies a move away towards enforcement, through the prosecution of those who recruit child soldiers, and proposals for Security Council sanctions against governments and groups who breach their international obligations by using children in armed conflicts. This study will be essential reading for those concerned with public international law, human rights, and the United Nations and peacekeeping.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is an important reference source for anyone, whether in academia, policy or advocacy, working on the child soldier issue." --- Journal of Peace Research

"Happold's work is a succinct and comprehensive survey of international law as it relates to the phenomenon of child soldiering. Amid the often highly emotive responses that child soldiers elicit in discourse, this volume clearly and directly addresses the major debates relating to child combatants. It is an important reference source for anyone, whether in academia, policy or advocacy, working on the child soldier issue." --- (2006) 43 Journal of Peace Research 636

"[Happold] provides a lucid examination of how perceptions of childhood and children's rights vary over space and time, and how this affects the treatment of child soldiers. He also examines the rules that govern the treatment and activities of child soldiers themselves, which has received much less attention." (p. 121)

"This is a well written book that provides not only a good general introduction to the subject of child soldiers, but also a clear account of the complexities surrounding the application of international law to the subject." (p. 123) --- Youth and Policy, No. 96, Summer 2007, 121-3

About the Author

Matthew Happold is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Nottingham. He is a general public international lawyer. He holds degrees from the universities of Oxford and London and the Diploma of the Hague Academy of International Law. Matthew was previously a Research Officer at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a Lecturer at the University of Sussex. Recent publications include Anderson and Happold (eds), Constitutional Human Rights in the Commonwealth (BIICL, 2003). Matthew is presently writing a monograph on child soldiers in international law to be published by Manchester University Press. He will be spending the spring semester of the academic year 2003-4 on sabbatical as a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Juris Publishing, Inc. (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929446640
• ISBN-13: 978-1929446643
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,855,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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