Transnational Corporations and Child Labor

The Never Ending Global Cycle
By Courtney Heinel

Courtney Heinel, a 2015 graduate of Albany Law School, passed the bar exam in July. She graduated from Ithaca College with a major in Legal Studies, and completed extensive studies in Politics with a concentration in International Relations.
Following her first year at Albany Law, Courtney interned at the law school’s Civil Rights and Disability Law Clinic, and later interned for the Rensselaer County Public Defender’s office.
Last spring, she competed in the Donna Jo Morse Negotiations. Additionally, Courtney served as a senior editor for International Law Studies and then the submissions editor.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and reading.

This paper seeks to explore the complex relationship between Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and child labor on a global scale.  By examining how TNCs, through political loopholes, avoid enforcement of basic human rights afforded to children in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it is possible to see how child labor is perpetuated across generations in a never-ending cycle. While TNCs are responsible for many other human rights violations under numerous conventions and treaties, this paper seeks only to explore the human rights violations associated with TNCs and child labor.

The first section of this paper will briefly introduce the international conventions that govern the rights of the child—the CRC and the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC)—specifically focusing on the provisions governing child labor. The second section will seek to highlight some of the theories that underlay the causes of child labor globally.

The third section will define Transnational Corporations and their influence on child labor within the global community.  The next section will then examine why TNCs pose a problem for the elimination of child labor and explore the various international attempts to regulate TNCs over the past few decades. The fifth section will discuss how the CRC, even though not applicable due to the lack of enforceability against TNCs, is perfectly equipped to deal with the issue of child labor employed by TNCs.

Finally, this paper will conclude by arguing that the international community needs to step in and take action to eliminate child labor. Given that a child laborer today makes a child laborer in the future, protecting children worldwide should be a top priority.
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To read the paper, open HERE.

Abortion and Gender Selection Issues under China’s One Child Policy

 Implications under the Convention on the Rights of the Child

By Yan Rong Yang

‪Yan Rong Yang is a third year student at Albany Law School. She is a graduate of State University of New York at Albany, magna cum laude, where she majored in political science and history. She is currently interning at the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs. When she was a child, her family immigrated to the United States from China in the mid-1990s. 

Yan Rong prepared this paper for Professor Anthony Farley’s course, International Child Rights.

Modernization has not only allowed for the development of technology, but also human rights. The future of each country lies in the hands of our children. Yet, even in the 21st century, we have countries like China placing a governmental limitation on our rights to reproduce. The “One-Child Policy” has been a center of many political debates, seen as an injustice to Chinese couples who wants the freedom to create more than one life. Here, rather than evaluating that injustice from the views of an adult, the One-Child policy is considered thoroughly from the rights of the child.

China has adopted the articles issued under Children’s Rights Convention (CRC), yet they have failed to obey these articles time and time again. The One-Child policy has caused difficulty for the lives of the “illegal” children. They are abandoned, ripped out of their mother’s wombs, murdered, trafficked, and discriminated against by their own government and government fearing parents.

The age and definition of a child will not change; however, what can be changed is how the policies are implemented. In order to lessen the harm that is done, or has already been done, such as the sex ratio of male to females, China needs to reconsider their responsibilities under CRC. That way, a new generation that can live without facing the effects of the harsh one-child policy.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The World Of Female Child Soldiers

A Chance at Equality or a Life of Servitude?

By Katie E. Valder

Katie Valder, a third-year student at Albany Law School, graduated magna cum laude with honors from Le Moyne College. She majored in Criminology and Crime & Justice Studies, with a concentration in International Affairs, and she double minored in Peace & Global Studies and Anthropology. At Albany Law, she is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Government Law Review, a student editor for the Government Law and Policy Journal, a teaching assistant for the Domestic Violence Prosecution Hybrid Clinic. She has worked as an intern at the New York State Attorney General's Office, the Saratoga District Attorney's Office, the Government Law Center, the Civil Rights and Disabilities Law Clinic, and the Domestic Violence Prosecution Hybrid Clinic. Additionally, Katie served as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Lawyering class, and has been active  in multiple pro bono projects, as well as the Women's Law Caucus.This presentation was created for Prof. Bonventre’s Fall International War & Crime Class.

                      (click to enlarge slides)
It is estimated that over 300,000 child soldiers are currently fighting in conflicts across the world in upwards of 30 countries.

The international community has taken action to stop the use of child soldiers. Among the steps taken are:
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict,
the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
and the Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for Elimination of the Worst Form of Child Labour by the International Labour Office.

These initiatives, however, lack the narrow tailoring necessary to protecting young girls in armed conflict and fail to provide valid reintegration strategies.

This presentation focuses on the use of child soldiers, specifically female child soldiers, in armed conflicts around the world and uncovers the role these young girls play. For some, joining the conflict is an ability to gain equality to their male counterparts. For others, it means a life of sexual servitude and back-breaking labor.
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For the entire presentation, open HERE.
(It is then best to Download [by clicking on File] and then Open the downloaded power-point presentation.)

Serving the Best Interest of the Child

Equality in International Adoption

By John Voyle Hodge
John Hodge graduated from Albany Law School cum laude in 2012 with a concentration in Intellectual Property and completed his undergraduate studies at Nebraska Wesleyan University majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Biology and Physics.  While at Albany Law he interned as a Law Clerk for the New York State Bar Association, and held the positions of Lead Articles Editor for the Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology, Treasurer of the Intellectual Property Society, and Vice President of the Softball Club.
This paper was prepared for Prof. Alexandra Harrington's course in International Child Rights, Spring 2012.


A common thread connecting much of international human rights law is the protection of those who cannot protect themselves. Among those most in need of protection are children.

International agreements, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, address the fact that children cannot protect themselves and that a child’s best chance for productive development is to be part of strong family unit. In other words, children who are orphaned or otherwise uncared for are at a significant disadvantage.

The need to increase placement of these children into stable family homes is self-evident.This paper addresses the international problem of helpless children left homeless.

The paper argues that the international community should encourage increased adoption as a positive solution for the many children who are otherwise without a family environment. This paper also addresses the need to openly allow same-sex couples the right to participate in the international adoption process as part of the effort to increase the number of children being placed in family environments.
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To read the paper, open HERE.

U.N. Recognition of Palestinian Statehood and Children

The Potential Impact on Their Welfare

By Nadia I. Arginteanu
Nadia Arginteanu, a third year student at Albany Law School, is Editor-in-Chief of the Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology. She is a graduate of Bard College where she majored in political science. She will graduate from Albany Law School in May 2013 with a concentration in International Law.
This paper was prepared for Professor Harrington's course, International Child Rights, Spring 2012.
  
Undoubtedly, one of the most difficult issues that the international community has had to deal with is the question of Palestine. The Arab-Israel conflict over Palestine is nearly intractable and has been a major point of debate and contention for decades.

The military and political conflict that has taken hold of the region has caused a great deal of suffering for the children living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (“OPT”) comprised of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Children in these regions are not only hurt by the violence of warfare, but due to the political turmoil of the region are often denied the fundamental rights that the international community has recognized all children should be afforded, such as education and healthcare.

Though the political status of Palestine has been at a standstill for many years, recently, steps have been made by the current political leadership of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority, to change Palestine’s status both in the United Nations and in the international community as a whole. For example, in October 2011 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”) recognized Palestine as a full member state. Recognition of Palestine by UNESCO was controversial, but not as controversial as the recent bid on September 23, 2011 by the Palestinian Authority to gain full membership in the United Nations during the 2011 session of the United Nations General Assembly.

This paper will argue that if the United Nations were to recognize Palestinian statehood and admit it as a full member state, or at the very least elevate Palestine to the status of a non-member state observer, either of these changes would have a positive impact on the lives of Palestinian children. Changing the political status of Palestine would change the status of Palestinian children, affording these children increased rights and protections under international law.*
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* Citations to references in this introduction are available in the paper.
To read the entire paper, open HERE.

Understanding Child Soldiering

The Issue and Its Ramifications

By Bayti Chen

Bayti Chen, a third year student at Albany Law School, is the Vice President of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. She has interned at the New York State Assembly as a Legislative Assistant to Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

Ms. Chen's paper addresses how children become soldiers and what efforts are needed to save them from losing their childhood to war. She prepared the paper for Professor Grahn-Farley's course, International Child's Rights, Spring 2011.

Wars have transpired since the existence of human life. Originally, adults were the soldiers of war, but since World War II, children began participating in wars and armed conflicts. A recurring pressing matter and trend is the use of child soldiers in armed conflicts. A child is defined as anyone under the age of eighteen. The meaning of “child soldier” has a broader definition than the typical definition of “soldiers” we know today, namely those who join the armed forces and handle machineries and/or are in direct confrontation with enemies. Child soldiers are “associated with any kind of regular or irregular armed group” that participates in all kinds of activities ranging from messengers, porters, sexual purposes, cooks, to front line combatant battles with land mines, bombs, and guns. They are not limited to just fighting in war or using militia weaponry.

Despite the vast amount of laws pertaining to child soldiers and its prevention, there remains the question of why are children still participating in armed conflicts? A majority of the countries that actively use child soldiers are particularly prominent in third world countries. As of today, it was found that more than twenty countries or territories actively involve children in armed conflicts both in government forces and non-state armed groups. Some countries includes Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Columbia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Rwanda, Thailand and Uganda. The underlying causes for the use of child soldiers and the appeal for enlistment ranges from poverty issues and a sense of belonging, to threats of force and death.*

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* Citations to references in this introduction are available in the paper.
To read the entire paper, open HERE.