The Faculty of Law is proud to announce that one of its LLD students, Violet Odala, has won the English Division (there is also a Spanish Division) of the Human Rights Essay Award of the American University’s Washington College of Law Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. 

Sponsored by the Academy, this annual competition seeks to stimulate the production of scholarly work in international human rights law.

The topic of the 2011 Human Rights Essay Award was ‘The Rights of Children and International Human Rights Law’ and participants were free to choose any subject related to the assigned topic.

The best articles may be published in the American University International Law Review.

The award consists of a scholarship to the 2011 Programme of Advanced Studies in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, a three-week programme tenable at the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Washington DC, travel expenses, housing and per diem for living expenses. Ms Odala will also receive a name plaque at a ceremony in Washington DC.

This is the first time the award has been won by a person from the SADC region, as Ms Odala is from Malawi. Since 2003, winners of the English award have come from Australia (twice), USA (twice), Hungary, UK, Australia, Nigeria and Kenya.

Below please find a summary of the essay and a vote of thanks by Ms Odala.

The Spectrum for Child Justice in the International Framework:

From ‘Reclaiming the Delinquent Child’ to Restorative Justice

Children, as a vulnerable group of society do have their rights curtailed from time to time, and children in conflict with the law experience this to a much greater extent, and more so children in Africa. The essay examines how the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), both very progressive in nature, have crystallized human rights for children and provided safeguards for children in conflict with the law. In doing so, the essay explores how child justice as a field, has undergone several theoretical shifts since the end of the 19^th Century, from a welfarist approach to a justice approach, followed by a rights based approach and now, perceptions are shifting towards a restorative justice approach. This is evidenced by the incorporation of restorative justice in most recently enacted legislation on children especially in Africa, and also in several United Nations (UN) documents and even though the CRC and the ACRWC do not specifically provide for restorative justice, they contain provisions that pave way for its practice. The essay therefore submits that restorative justice restorative justice has become a model of child justice and it is the best approach for dealing with children in conflict with the law because of its emphasis on reparation of harm and societal reintegration, as children are better placed to be reformed than adults.

Vote of Thanks

I would like to thank the Faculty of Law for bringing the competition to my attention as I got to know about this through the notice board in the Faculty. Having seen that the topic was directly related to my doctoral research, as I am writing on child justice in Malawi, I decided to make use of the opportunity. I make it a point to always read notices because I do not want to miss out on opportunities, and I am so glad that it has paid off! 

Also thanks to my supervisor, Prof Ann Skelton, because it is the skills that she has enhanced in me, that enabled me to write a winning essay. 

I am also thankful to the Faculty for the resources that enable us to write.

Violet Odala'