Jurisprudential Analysis On The Protection Of Children’s Right To Participation

As the Indian poet Tagore said,when the hope of life comes,he always pretends to be a child.Children are synonymous with vitality,and have inherent potential.However,children are always the most vulnerable and weak members in a society where adult authority is absolutely dominant.For a long time,in the eyes of a considerable number of people,the issue of children does not even belong to the issue of rights.This undoubtedly makes our protection of children in trouble.It is gratifying that the protection of children’s rights has gradually been put on the agenda with the rising international human rights movement and the deepening of the concept of equality.The advent of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is of epoch-making significance.It also brings the term "child’s right to participate" to the international arena of child protection.In fact,the relevant theoretical research on children’s right to participate is not mature.Doubts about children’s participation are endless at home and abroad:Can children make decisions as autonomously as adults?Are children competent to exercise their right to participate?If the answer is yes,what kind of ability can become the basic allocation of the right to participate?Does the progress of children’s rights reflect,to some extent,the decline of parents’rights?When the right to participation conflicts with the principle of the best interests of children,should we protect children or children’s right to participation?However,there is no doubt that children’s right to participate plays an irreplaceable positive role in promoting children’s healthy development.Because whether children’s participation power is fully embodied in the process of children’s development is the key to distinguish active,automatic development from passive integration.Given the right to participate,children who are already in a weak position can "rightly and vigorously" ask for what they deserve and deal with all matters affecting them independently,so that they can be more confident when they step into society to deal with democratic life one day.Therefore,the study of children’s right to participate is conducive to unblocked channels for children to express themselves,enhance their ability to participate in society,and promote the construction of human rights protection for children in China.On the other hand,it is conducive to promoting the renewal of Chinese children’s protection concept,further promoting the whole society to establish a sense of respect for children,so as to build a democratic and civilized socialist harmonious society.Apart from the introduction,this paper is divided into five chapters:Chapter one explains the definition and content of children’s right to participate,and makes a jurisprudential analysis of the appropriateness of children as the subject of participation,which responds to a series of questions about the inappropriateness of children’s right to participate because of their age and irrationality.The second chapter mainly discusses the conflict between children’s right to participate and parents’rights and the principle of the best interests,which leads to the discussion of the boundary of children’s right to participate,and puts forward three possible ways to determine the boundary,in order to find a balance point which can not only stimulate children’s autonomy potential,but also maximize the protection of children from harm.Chapter three makes a typological analysis of children’s right to participate.Firstly,it clarifies the ladder theory of children’s participation and the traditional classification of children’s participation rights,and analyses its advantages and disadvantages.On this basis,using Bentham’s utilitarianism theory for reference,a new result-oriented classification method is proposed in order to put children’s participation in the framework and better protect their exercise.Chapter IV compares and studies the advanced concepts and protection systems of children’s right to participation at home and abroad,such as the system of children’s ombudsman and the system of children’s hearing,and analyses the reasons for different attitudes towards children’s right to participation in different countries and regions,so as to inspire us to choose suitable protection methods for children’s right to participation based on our own national conditions.The fifth chapter,by analyzing the current situation and shortcomings of our country,puts forward some suggestions for improving the protection of the right to participate,such as filling in the legislative gaps,increasing publicity efforts and establishing an independent child protection agency,in order to ensure that the right to participate in children can be taken seriously in our country.