DCI – Protection of Juveniles 1

first international instrument to adopt a coherent child rights approach to the

international legal regulation of the deprivation of liberty for children. It

operates as an umbrella for a set of three rules concerning child justice; the

UN Guidelines for the Administration of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh

Guidelines), the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Protection of Juvenile

Justice (the Beijing Rules), and the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles

Deprived of their Liberty. Neither the Declaration of the Rights of the Child

1924 nor the Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959 refers directly either

to juvenile justice or to the deprivation of liberty of children. Although the

United Nations did adopt Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

1955, these do not seek as their primary goal to regulate the management of

institutions for young people and hence do not take into account the special

entitlements of children. The UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived

of their Liberty, however, are not only applicable to juvenile justice

institutions but importantly apply to deprivations of liberty on the basis of