‘In Conversation’ Event with Professor Ann Skelton

~ By Beste Yasav

On Tuesday 3rd October 2023, the School of Law had the privilege of hosting Professor Ann Skelton, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, at a special joint event with the University of Strathclyde’s Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures. The ‘In Conversation’ event provided a unique opportunity for students and academics to engage with one of the world’s foremost child rights experts.

Professor Ann Skelton boasts a distinguished career in child rights advocacy, spanning legal practice, teaching, research, and law reform on children’s rights. She currently holds the position of Professor of Law at the University of Pretoria and the University of Leiden, while also serving as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Inspiring Children's Futures. She worked as a children’s rights lawyer in South Africa for over 30 years, where she played a leading role in child law reform through her involvement with the committees of the South African Law Reform Commission that drafted the Child Justice Act and the Children’s Act. She has published widely on children’s rights, education law, and restorative justice.  

During the event, Professor Skelton engaged in a fascinating discussion with Bruce Adamson, Professor of Practice at the University of Glasgow and former Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. The conversation delved into pressing issues, including regressions on children’s rights and States’ evolving approaches towards harmonising and improving children’s rights protections. Interestingly, she used a food metaphor, describing children’s rights as ‘chicken soup’: on the face of it, bland and inoffensive. Indeed, this may explain why the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. But the way that courts in South Africa and beyond have engaged with children’s rights has demonstrated the treaty’s full potential; in a sense, children’s rights are ‘spicier’ than perhaps originally intended. To illustrate, Professor Skelton referred to various cases, including the Constitutional Court of South Africa’s landmark judgment in S v M, where the Court, relying on the best interests of the child principle (Article 3, UNCRC), concluded that the interests of a primary care-giver’s children would not be best served by her being sent to prison.

Professor Skelton spoke passionately about her work as a young lawyer and her instrumental role in child rights law reform in post-apartheid South Africa. This included her experience with strategic litigation work at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law, where she appeared in many landmark cases before the South African Constitutional Court that triggered change in the legal framework on children’s rights. She spoke about the important role that universities play in Public Legal Education on children’s rights.

A lively and broad-ranging Q&A session followed, covering issues from extra-territorial jurisdiction in climate change litigation, to the proper role of courts, as well as protections for child rights defenders. In relation to the latter, Professor Skelton shared an anecdote about a visit to St Patrick’s Primary School in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire where she heard from children about why rights are important to them. The visit was particularly special as although Professor Skelton was born in South Africa, her grandfather went to the school over 100 years ago.

After some inspiring debate surrounding the role of States, courts, and international organisations in protecting children’s rights, we continued the conversation at a drinks reception. The Student Division of Lawyers Without Borders also participated, bringing interesting questions and perspectives to the discussion.

The evening with Professor Skelton was a remarkable and inspirational experience for all who attended. In particular, her extensive and impactful work in child rights advocacy offered invaluable insights and guidance to the students in attendance. Moreover, her dedication to defending children’s rights serves as a source of inspiration and motivation to those committed to making the world a better place for future generations. 

Beste Yasav is a fourth year student on the Common Law LLB programme and a Lawyers without Borders UofG student division committee member.