Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that state parties have a positive obligation to implement the necessary legal measures to secure the rights recognised in the Convention. The crc Committee has stated that incorporation is its preferred method of implementation. In Sweden, the issue of incorporation has been the subject of a lengthy and contentious debate. This article aims to unpack the reasons for this. It is suggested that technical-legal arguments against the incorporation of the crc are grounded in and intertwined with cultural-legal arguments. While these arguments may be more or less clearly expressed by the various parties in the Swedish debate, I argue that they seem to have played an important role in the process through which this international treaty has been made applicable on the domestic level in Sweden.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966, 993 unts 3.
UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 unts 171.
UN General Assembly, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 18 December 1979, 1249 unts 13.
United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (cisg), 11 April 1980, 1489 unts 3.
UN General Assembly, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 unts 3.
UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13 December 2006, A/RES/61/106, Annex i, 2515 unts 3.
Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 4 November 1950, ets 05.
1996 Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (1996 Haag Convention).
Aliens Act (sfs 2005:716).
Children and Parents Code (sfs 1949:381).
Education Act (sfs 2010:800).
Instrument of Government (sfs 1974:152).
Lag om 1996 års Haagkonvention (sfs 2012:318).
Lag (1987:822) om internationella köp (cisg) (sfs 1987:822).
Social Services Act (sfs 2001:453).
Lov om styrking av menneskerettighetenes stilling i norsk rett (menneskerettsloven) LOV-1999-05-21-30 (Menneskerettsloven, 1999).
Bet. Socialutskottet (Committee on Social Insurance) 1995/96:SoU4 Barn och ungdom (1996).
Bet. Socialutskottet (Committee on Social Insurance) SoU 1989/90:SoU28 Godkännande av FN-konventionen om barnets rättigheter (1990).
Conservative Party, statement to the Committee on Social Insurance, 2017/18:SoU25, 2018.
Dir. 2013:35 Översyn av barnets rättigheter i svensk rätt.
Dir. 2015:17 Tilläggsdirektiv till Barnrättighetsutredningen (S 2013:08).
Ds 2011:37 Hur svensk lagstiftning och praxis överensstämmer med rättigheterna i barnkonventionen – en kartläggning (2011).
Private member’s bill 2011/12:So224 Implementering av FN:s barnkonvention i svensk lag (2011).
Private member’s bill 2012/13:So320 Inkorporera FN:s barnkonvention i svensk lag (2012).
Private member’s bill 2013/14:So397 Inkorporera barnkonventionen (2013).
Private member’s bill 2016/17:3515 med anledning av skr. 2016/17:29 Regeringens strategi för det nationella arbetet med mänskliga rättigheter (2016).
Prop. 1986/87:128 om internationella köp (1987).
Prop. 1989/90:107 om godkännande av FN-konventionen om barnets rättigheter (1990).
Prop. 1989/90:107 om godkännande av FN-konventionen om barnets rättigheter, Appendix 2 (1990).
Prop. 1993/94:117 Inkorporering av Europakonventionen och andra fri- och rättighetsfrågor (1994).
Prop. 2017/18:186 Inkorporering av FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter (2018).
Skr. 2007/08:111 Barnpolitiken – en politik för barnets rättigheter (2008).
Skr. 2013/14:91 Åtgärder för att stärka barnets rättigheter och uppväxtvillkor i Sverige (2014).
sou 1997:116 Barnets bästa i främsta rummet. FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter i Sverige (1997).
sou 2005:111 Föräldraansvar och åtgärder till skydd för barn i internationella situationer – 1996 års Haagkonvention m.m. (2005).
sou 2016:19 Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag (2016).
Statement of Government Policy (Regeringsförklaring), 3 October 2014, available at <www.regeringen.se/49b6d2/contentassets/436960c05f524109b8a020b879efd76b/regeringsforklaringen-3-oktober-2014> (accessed 22 October 2018).
The Government (Regeringen), proposal referred to the Council on Legislation for consideration (Lagrådsremiss: Inkorporering av FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter), 6 July 2017.
bris (Children’s Right in Society), Comments, 14 October 2016, available at: https://www.bris.se/globalassets/pdf/remisser/bris_yttrande_sou-2016.19.pdf (accessed 19 February 2019).
Council on Legislation (Lagrådet), Statement (yttrande), 6 September 2017.
Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College (Ersta Sköndal Bräcke Högskola), Comments, 2016 available at: https://www.esh.se/download/18.7379fcec1571adf577f50ae/1475156561496/Missiv%20Remissvar%20Barnkonventionen%20blir%20svensk%20lag%20SOU%202016_19_Dnr%20S2016_01918_FST.pdf (accessed 2 March 2019).
Linköping University, S2016/01918/FST, 2016.
Office of the Chancellor of Justice, Remissyttrande (statement) över betänkandet Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag (sou 2016:19) dnr 2429-16-80, 2016.
Stockholm High Administrative Court, Statement (remissyttrande) kst 2016/189, 2016.
Stockholm University Faculty of Law, Statement (yttrande) on sou 2016:19. Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag, dnr SU FV-1.1.3-1237-16, 2016.
Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, Comments, 16/02233, 2016.
Swedish Bar Association, Comments, R-2016/0762, 17 October 2016.
Swedish National Audit Office, Statement, 2016–0434, 2016.
Swedish National Courts Adminstration, Comments, 833–2016, 2016.
Swedish Red Cross, Comments, 14 October 2016, available at: https://www.redcross.se/press-och-opinion/Remissvar/barnrattighetsutrednigens-betankande-barnkonventionen-blir-svensk-lag-sou-201619/ (accessed 20 February 2019).
Swedish Refugee Advice Centre, Yttrande (Comments), 2016, available at: https://sweref.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Remissvar-barnkonventionen-S2016-01918-FST.pdf (accessed 5 March 2019).
The Children’s Ombudman, Comments, Dnr 3.9:0283/16, 2016.
The Children’s Ombudsman, Communication 9.2:1001/09, S2009/8846/FST, 2009.
The Equality Ombudman, Comments, 11 October 2016: available at http://www.do.se/om-do/vad-gor-do/remissvar/remissvar-under-2016/barnkonventionen-blir-svensk-lag/ (accessed 27 February 2019).
The Parliamentary Ombudsmen, Yttrande (Comments) över Barnrättighetsutredningens betänkande Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag (sou 2016:19) dnr R 29–2016, 2016.
unicef Sweden, Comments, 10 October 2016, available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/327028565/Remissvar-UNICEF-Sverige-Barnkonventionen-Blir-Svensk-Lag (accessed 19 February 2019).
Swedish Supreme Court, nja 2006 s. 305.
Swedish Supreme Court, nja 2007 s. 168.
Swedish Supreme Court, nja 2007 s. 425.
Swedish Supreme Court, nja 2012 s. 1038.
Swedish Supreme Court, nja 2013 s. 1241.
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 3: The Nature of States Parties’ Obligations (Art. 2, Para. 1, of the Covenant), 14 December 1990, E/1991/23.
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 9: The Domestic Application of the Covenant, 3 December 1998, E/C.12/1998/24.
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Concluding Observations: Sweden, 14 July 2016, E/C.12/SWE/CO/6.
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: State Party report: Sweden, 16 March 2015, E/C.12/SWE/6.
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Concluding Observations: Sweden, 10 March 2016, CEDAW/C/SWE/CO/8-9.
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Concluding Observations: Sweden, 12 May 2014, CRPD/C/CO/SWE/1.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Sweden, 26 June 2009, CRC/C/SWE/CO/4.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sweden, 6 March 2015, CRC/C/SWE/CO/5.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5: General Measures of Implementation for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 27 November 2003, CRC/GC/2003/5.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: State Party report: Iceland, 7 February 2019, CRC/C/ISL/5-6.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: State Party report: Sweden, 31 August 2012, CRC/C/SWE/5.
UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 31: The Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant, 26 May 2004, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 13.
UN Human Rights Committee: Concluding Observations: Sweden, 24 April 2002, CCPR/CO/74/SWE.
UN Human Rights Committee: Concluding Observations: Sweden, 28 April 2016, CCPR/C/SWE/CO/7.
UN Human Rights Committee: Concluding Observations: Sweden, 7 May 2009, CCPR/C/SWE/CO/6.
UN Human Rights Committee: State Party report: Sweden, 5 December 2007, CCPR/C/SWE/6.
Advokaten, https://www.advokaten.se/globalassets/advokaten/advokaten_2016_3.pdf, 2016.
Åhman K. , Rättsutlåtande om inkorporation av Barnkonventionen (Stockholm: Rädda Barnen, 2009).
Alston P. and Tobin J. , Laying the Foundations for Children’s Rights: An Independent Study of Some Key Legal and Institutional Aspects of the Impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Florence: unicef, 2005).
Björgvinsson D.T. , The Intersection of International Law and Domestic Law: A Theoretical and Practical Analysis (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publ., 2016).
Bring O. , “Monism och dualism igår och idag” in Stern R. and Österdahl I. (eds.), Folkrätten i svensk rätt (Stockholm: Liber, 2012).
Bring O. , Mahmoudi S. and Wrange P. , Sverige och folkrätten, 5th rev. edn. (Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik, 2014).
bris (Children’s Rights in Society), Alternative Report to the crc Committee, 2014.
Crawford J.R. , Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law, 8th edn. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
Diver A. , and Miller J. (eds.), Justiciability of Human Rights Law in Domestic Jurisdictions (Springer, 2016).
Ehrenkrona C-H ., “Sveriges internationella avtal och dessas genomförande i svensk lagstiftning – några reflektioner”, Svensk Juristtidning 2015 (9), 779–90.
Engstad N. , Laerdal Froseth A. and Tonder B. , The independence of judges (Eleven International Publishing, 2014).
European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), On the Implementation of International Human Rights Treaties in Domestic Law and the Role of Courts, Report adopted by the Venice Commission at its 100th plenary session (Rome, 10–11 October 2014).
Gearty C. , “Against judicial enforcement” in Gearty C. and Mantouvalou V. , Debating Social Rights (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011).
Goodman R. and Jinks D. , “Measuring the effects of human rights treaties”, European Journal of International Law, 2003 (14) 171.
Grahn Farley M. , “Fördragskonform tolkning av MR-traktat” Svensk Juristtidning 2018 (5/6) 450–463.
Guarnieri C. and Pederzoli P. , The power of judges. A Comparative Study of Courts and Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
Hoffman S. , “The UN convention on the rights of the child, decentralisation and legislative integration: a case study from Wales”, The International Journal of Human Rights, 2019. doi: .10.1080/13642987.2018.1558978
Høstmælingen N. , Kjørholt E. , Sandberg S. (eds.), Barnekonvensjonen. Barns rettigheter i Norge 2 ed. (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2016).
Kilkelly U. , “The UN convention on the rights of the child: incremental and transformative approaches to legal implementation”, The International Journal of Human Rights 2019, doi: .10.1080/13642987.2018.1558974
Krunke H. and Thorarensen B. (eds.), The Nordic Constitutions: A Comparative and Contextual Study (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2018).
Leviner P. , “Barnkonventionen som svensk lag: en diskussion om utmaningar och möjligheter för att förverkliga barns rättigheter”, Förvaltningsrättslig tidskrift 2018 (2), 287–311 (Leviner, 2018b).
Leviner P. , “Child Participation in the Swedish Child Protection System: Child-Friendly Focus but Limited Child Influence on Outcomes”, International Journal of Children’s Rights 2018 (26(1)), 136–58. doi:10.1163/15718182-02601002 (Leviner, 2018a).
Lidén H. , Gording-Stang E. , and Eide K. “The gap between legal protection, good intentions and political restrictions. Unaccompanied minors in Norway” 2017 Social Work and Society Vol. 15 (1).
Liefaard T. and Doek J.E. (eds.), Litigating the Rights of the Child: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Domestic and International Practice (Dordrecht: Springer, 2015).
Lind A-S ., “Folkrätten i den svenska konstitutionen” in Stern R. and Österdahl I. (eds.), Folkrätten i svensk rätt (Stockholm: Liber, 2012).
Lundy L. , Kilkelly K. , and Byrne B. , “Incorporation of the United Nations on the Rights of the Child in Law: A Comparative Review”, International Journal of Children’s Rights 2013 (21), 442–63.
Lundy L. , Kilkelly U. , Byrne B. , Kang J. , The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: a study of legal implementation in 12 countries (London: unicef UK, 2012).
McCall-Smith K. , “To incorporate the crc or not – is this really the question?” The International Journal of Human Rights 2019, doi:.10.1080/13642987.2018.1558990
Meili S. , “Do Human Rights Treaties Matter?: Judicial Responses to the Detention of Asylum Seekers in the United States and the United Kingdom” New York University Journal of International Law and Politics (2015) 48:1.
Nolan A. , Children’s Socio-Economic Rights, Democracy And The Courts (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011).
Nollkaemper A. , National courts and the international rule of law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Office of the Chancellor of Justice, Remissyttrande över betänkandet Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag (sou 2016:19) dnr 2429-16-80, 2016.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Save the Children Sweden, Legislative History of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Geneva/New York: United Nations, 2007).
Ojanen T. , “Human Rights in Nordic Constitutions and the Impact of International Obligations” in Krunke H. and Thorarensen B. (eds.), The Nordic Constitutions: A Comparative and Contextual Study (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2018).
Österdahl I. , “Avslutning” (Conclusions) in Stern R. and Österdahl I. (eds.), Folkrätten i svensk rätt (Stockholm: Liber, 2012).
Parkes A. , Children and International Human Rights Law: The Right of the Child to be Heard (London: Routledge, 2013).
Sandberg K. , “The role of national courts in promoting children’s rights. The case of Norway”, International Journal of Children’s Rights 2014 22(1), 1.
Save the Children Sweden (Rädda Barnen), Bra beslut för barn, 2009.
Save the Children Sweden (Rädda Barnen), Child Poverty Report, 2013.
Save the Children Sweden (Rädda Barnen), Yttrande över sou 2010:70 Ny struktur för skydd av mänskliga rättigheter, 2010.
Scheinin M. , “General Introduction” in Scheinin M. (ed.), International Human Rights Norms in the Nordic and Baltic Countries (The Hague/London/Boston: Brill | Nijhoff, 1996).
Schultz M. , “Nya argumentationslinjer i förmögenhetsrätten: Rättighetsargument”, Svensk Juristtidning 2011 (10), 988–9 (Schultz, 2011a).
Schultz M. , “Barnens rätt är fel”, Magasinet Neo, 4–2011 (Schultz, 2011b).
Shelton D. , “Introduction” in Shelton D. , International Law and Domestic Legal Systems: Incorporation, Transformation, and Persuasion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Skelton A. , “International Children’s Rights Law: Complaints and Remedies” in Kilkelly U. , and Liefard T. , International Human Rights of Children (Springer, 2019).
Søvig K.H. , “Barnets rettigheter på barnets premisser – utfordringer i møtet mellom FNs barnekonvensjon og norsk rett” (Bergen 2009) (available at https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/bld/barnets-rettigheter/utredning_sovig_end_versj.pdf, accessed 6 March 2019).
Statement of Government Policy (Regeringsförklaring), 3 October 2014, available at: www.regeringen.se/49b6d2/contentassets/436960c05f524109b8a020b879efd76b/regeringsforklaringen-3-oktober-2014 (accessed 22 October 2018).
Stern R. , “Sverige och FNs konvention om barnets rättigheter: reflektioner kring en eventuell inkorporering i svensk rätt” in Cederborg A-C. and Warnling-Nerep W. (eds.), Barnrätt: en antologi (Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik, 2014).
Stern R. and Jörnrud M. , Barnkonventionens status: en utvärdering av för- och nackdelar med barnkonventionen som svensk lag (Stockholm: unicef Sverige, 2011).
Stern R. and Österdahl I. (eds.), Folkrätten i svensk rätt (Stockholm: Liber, 2012).
Stockholm University Faculty of Law, Comments on sou 2016:19 Barnkonventionen blir svensk lag, dnr SU FV-1.1.3-1237-16, 2016.
Strömholm S. , Rätt, rättskällor och rättstillämpning, 5th rev. edn. (Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik, 1996).
Ställvik O. , Domarrollen: rättsregler, yrkeskultur och ideal (Uppsala University, PhD Diss., 2009).
Dagbladet Svenska , “Dubbla budskap om barns rättigheter”, 10 March 2016 (available at: https://www.svd.se/dubbla-budskap-om-barns-rattigheter, accessed 8 March 2019) (Svenska Dagbladet, 2016).
Dagbladet Svenska , “Knepigt att göra barns rätt till lag”, 14 October 2016 (available at https://www.svd.se/knepigt-gora-barns-ratt-till-lag, accessed 7 March 2019) (Svenska Dagbladet, 2016).
Dagbladet Svenska , “Ny barnlag får kritik”, 14 March 2018 (available at: https://www.svd.se/ny-barnlag-far-kritik, accessed 5 March 2019).
Television Swedish , “Inrikes splittring om barnkonventionen” 14 October 2016, available at: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/splittring-om-barnkonventionen (accessed 7 March 2019).
The Children’s Ombudsman, “JO har fel om barnkonventionen”: www.barnombudsmannen.se/barnombudsmannen/i-media/nyheter/20161/jo-har-fel-om-barnkonventionen/ (2016b) (accessed 7 March 2019).
The Government, op-ed, https://www.regeringen.se/debattartiklar/2015/02/barnkonventionen-ska-bli-svensk-lag/, 2015 (accessed 1 March 2019).
Tobin J. , “Increasingly Seen and Heard: The Constitutional Recognition of Children’s Rights” (2005) 21 South African Journal on Human Rights 86.
unicef Sweden, Alternative report from unicef Sweden re the Swedish Government’s 5th report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2014.
unicef Sweden, blogpost: “Varför behöver barnkonventionen bli svensk lag” (unicef2016): https://blog.unicef.se/2016/11/20/varfor-behover-barnkonventionen-bli-svensk-lag/ (accessed 7 March 2019).
unicef/Innocenti Research Centre, Law Reform and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Florence: unicef, 2007).
unicef/Innocenti Research Centre, Summary Report of the Study on the Impact of the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Florence: unicef, 2004).
Vamstad J. , “Fördelar och nackdelar med att inkorporera barnkonventionen – en jämförande studie av internationella erfarenheter”, Ersta Sköndal högskola, Arbetsrapportserie, nr. 91, 2016.
Victor D. , “Svenska domstolars hantering av Europakonventionen”, Svensk Juristtidning, 2013, 343.
Warbrick C. , “Economic and Social Interests and the European Convention on Human Rights” in Baderin M. and McCorquodale R. , Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Action (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
Waters M. , “Creeping Monism: The Judicial Trend toward Interpretive Incorporation of Human Rights Treaties” 2007, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 107, No. 3.
Wind M. , “Do Scandinavians Care about International Law? A Study of Scandinavian Judges’ Citation Practice to International Law and Courts”, Nordic Journal of International Law 2016 (85), 281–302.
Zermatten J. , “Foreword” in Liefaard T. and Doek J.E. (eds.), Litigating the Rights of the Child. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Domestic and International Practice (Dordrecht: Springer, 2015).
Dagens Juridik, filmed debate, 24 November 2016, available at: http://www.dagensjuridik.se/2016/11/politisk-symbolhandling-eller-nodvandig-juridik-borde-barnkonventionen-bli-svensk-lag (accessed 7 March 2019).
unicef Sweden blog, available at: https://blog.unicef.se/ (accessed 14 March 2019).
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1042 | 157 | 19 |
Full Text Views | 478 | 26 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 575 | 65 | 1 |
Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that state parties have a positive obligation to implement the necessary legal measures to secure the rights recognised in the Convention. The crc Committee has stated that incorporation is its preferred method of implementation. In Sweden, the issue of incorporation has been the subject of a lengthy and contentious debate. This article aims to unpack the reasons for this. It is suggested that technical-legal arguments against the incorporation of the crc are grounded in and intertwined with cultural-legal arguments. While these arguments may be more or less clearly expressed by the various parties in the Swedish debate, I argue that they seem to have played an important role in the process through which this international treaty has been made applicable on the domestic level in Sweden.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 1042 | 157 | 19 |
Full Text Views | 478 | 26 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 575 | 65 | 1 |