Drawing from the case studies on the judicial application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) in France, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, this chapter argues that albeit fundamentally different in form, the direct and the indirect application of the Convention, respectively, produce similar effects. Both permit a meaningful engagement with the Convention and the development of child-sensitive reasoning. The chapter highlights that alongside the traditional methods of engagement with the Convention, courts have applied it in a sui generis manner. This demonstrates that the traditional reception rules are unable to capture the diversity of courts’ interaction with the Convention. The chapter discusses the factors that influence the courts’ application of the Convention and highlights the importance of the domestic structure of reception for the judicial application of the Convention. The chapter also concludes that article 3(1) of the Convention has been a favourite of the courts, who see it as a rich repository of legal principles and standards that allow them to justify a distinct legal treatment for children.

This chapter summarises the implications of this comparative study for the development of the judicial application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) in jurisdictions beyond this study. It argues that domestic reception rules are a necessary starting point but do not fully explain how the courts apply the Convention. It pleads for more attention to the sui generis methods of engagement with the Convention, but also to the domestic structure of reception as an often overlooked factor that influences its application. The chapter calls for a more systematic attention to the interaction between the Convention, and the overlapping domestic and international instruments. This will enable a better understanding of the issues in relation to which courts find the Convention most useful. The chapter argues that for the Convention to preserve or claim its rightful place among international instruments with impact on domestic judicial reasoning, the added value of the Convention must be better understood. Lastly, the chapter highlights the role of the courts and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in further developing the judicial application of the Convention.

The chapter argues that the domestic judicial application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) is important and in need of systematic attention, especially in light of the Convention’s novelty and special features. The chapter shows that in the absence of prior systematic comparative international studies, it remains relevant to study the judicial application of the Convention through the lens of the formal domestic rules that inform the reception of the Convention in monist, dualist, and hybrid legal systems. The chapter also argues that it is not only these formal factors that affect the judicial application of the Convention, but also the domestic structure of reception wherein the Convention is received. The chapter further explains the selection of a heterogenous sample of jurisdictions, consisting of France, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, and the use of a comparative international law perspective as a theoretical framework for the book.