Abstract
International children’s rights law is utterly clear. The use of deprivation of liberty of children must be limited to the absolute minimum. If it is nevertheless regarded necessary to arrest, detain, imprison, or institutionalize a child, states have the obligation to safeguard that her or his rights are recognized and adequately protected, regardless of the context in which the deprivation of liberty takes place. This chapter elaborates on the specifics of these two limbs of Article 37 CRC, the core human rights provision for the protection of children deprived of liberty. It analyzes the legal status these children are entitled to, specifies the corresponding negative and positive obligations for states, and explores avenues for an effective implementation.