Professor Linda Reif has contributed a chapter on "Independent Children's Rights Institutions" in the book Handbook of Children's Rights: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Martin D. Ruck (City University of New York), Michele Peterson-Badali (UToronto) and Michael Freeman (University College London), recently published by Routledge in New York and London. The book brings together international scholars writing on children's rights from a number of disciplines including law, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology.
Professor Reif's chapter surveys the various types of independent children's rights institutions (ICRIs) around the world, namely thematic institutions (e.g., children's ombudsman) and national human rights institutions and subnational human rights institutions with a focus on children's rights. It examines the various economic, political, functional, and international normative pressures on states that influence their decision-making on which type of ICRI to establish and its legal architecture. The chapter also provides case studies of ICRIs in Norway, Ireland, Australia, and Catalonia, Spain.