Children’s Socio-Economic Rights, Democracy And The Courts

... carefully crafted and compelling ... Professor Nolan has produced a superbly written and researched book that draws together a wealth of related material from the realms of children's rights and constitutional law and theory. She is equally comfortable with either vein of material, and has joined the dots between the two to great effect, leaving virtually no stone unturned in the presentation and defence of her argument. In the process, she has made a contribution to the study of both children's rights and socio-economic rights that will shape discussion of these questions for years to come. -- Conor O'Mahony * Modern Law Review, Volume 77, Number 3 *
Nolan's book is based on extensive, wide-ranging research and is very skilfully argued. Add to that the novelty of taking a child-centred approach to socio-economic rights and the book looks set to become the 'go to' source on the adjudication of children's socio-economic rights for human rights scholars and practitioners. -- Anashri Pillay * LSE Review of Books *
...both a welcome and necessary development and stands as a timely contribution to the existing literature...Nolan's work would provide a useful insight to researchers with an interest in constitutional law and theory, democratic theory, judicial theory, children's rights and human rights. Throughout the text, her arguments are accompanied by well-supported examples of litigation from a variety of jurisdictions. The detailed account of litigation included would be of use to practitioners, especially to those from the jurisdictions named within the text (UK, South Africa, India, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and the USA). Policy-makers and judges would also be well informed by the text. Indeed, it appears the author would hope that the judiciary or policy-makers would benefit from an awareness of the arguments put forward by the book and would be encouraged to be mindful of the benefits of a proactive approach to enforcing children's socio-economic rights when engaging in their respective functions. -- Emma Nottingham * Child and Family Law Quarterly, Volume 25, Number 1 *
Despite the burgeoning literature on both children's rights and economic and social rights, it seems strange that it has taken until 2011 to have the two areas of research combined in a single book. Aoife Nolan's research is an important contribution to both these areas of literature...Her work engages a wide range of international case law on children's economic and social rights not often readily available in the English language and demonstrates a deep understanding of how the law can be best used to promote the rights of the most disadvantaged in society, without overlooking its institutional limitations. This book is a must-have for all economic and social rights and children's rights scholars. * Human Rights Law Review, Volume 12 *
Nolan leaves no challenge untreated...in dismantling virtually every objection to judicial action on children's socio-economic rights, her argument emerges fully intact...The book will be welcomed by scholars specializing in children's rights, as well as scholars interested in the literature on judicial capacity. -- Alice Hearst * Law and Politics Book Review, Volume 22, Number 1 *
Aoife Nolan addresses a crucial and underdeveloped topic in the literature of human rights law: the socio-economic rights of children...In order to support the claim that the courts are not only able but obligated to enforce child socio-economic rights, Nolan provides a thorough analysis of liberal democratic theory, the role of children in democracy, the judiciary's role as guardian of rights, the institutional capacity of the courts to enforce the socio-economic rights, and the implementation of rights-related court decisions. The book is a necessary analysis of the efficacy and legitimacy of judicial action in favour of child rights. Nolan advocates for the implementation of a rights-based response to child poverty, a crucial driver of poor overall health, and in doing so provides a powerful contribution to health and human rights scholarship. -- Judith Fitzpatrick * Health and Human Rights, Volume 13, No. 2 *