Carolina Shin

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Area of Concentration

International and Area Studies

Abstract

In post-conflict societies whose legal capacity has been diminished by conflict, international legal intervention is essential to carrying out transitional justice. In internal conflicts that have involved a significant number of child soldiers and juvenile offenders of international crimes, adjudicating the ‘dual status’ of child soldiers remains an integral part of the transitional justice process. The international legal regime comprised of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law regarding child soldiers is principled in the ‘straight-18’ position; yet, international law grants domestic courts the legal authority to determine the minimum age of criminal responsibility, and by extension, the course of adjudication of child soldiers. Given the international and internationalized courts’ objective to ensure a competent legal process that can uphold the standards of international law, this study examines how the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been upheld for child soldiers by legal systems under international judicial oversight. Sierra Leone and Rwanda have been selected as case studies; both countries are signatories of the CRC. This study concludes that international legal intervention lacks the enforcement mechanisms strong enough to uphold the rights of child soldiers. Moreover, its contribution to reconciliation between child soldiers and their respective societies is meek, and, if it results in legal impunity for perpetrators of atrocities under the age of eighteen, may be counterproductive to the overall healing process of transitional justice.

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