The four general principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: the potential value of the approach in other areas of human rights law

One of the best known and most-cited features of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a concept that is, in fact, entirely extra-Conventional. This chapter reviews the four principles, how and why they were identified and their intended use and value. The four principles individually and collectively have received an enormous amount of attention since they appeared in the 1991 guidelines. The chapter traces their development and reception from the perspective of some key stakeholders: the states parties and other duty bearers who are charged with implementation; the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society who advocate for change; and the academics whose scholarship critiques and reflects on them and their impact in the furtherance of children's rights. The CRC marked a qualitative departure in human rights treaty drafting, the effects of the conversation between states and civil society imprinted in its lengthy text.