Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Shifting Perspectives on Children, Shifting Rights and Criminal Responsibility in Juvenile Justice -- Rights, Competence, and Competing Constructions of Childhood -- Welfare Approach and the Postponement of Criminal Responsibility -- Criminal Responsibility and the Justice Approach -- Conclusion -- 2 Children's Rights' Mediation of Welfare-Justice Tensions -- Progression of Rights from Welfare to Justice -- The Best Interests of the Child and Due Process Guarantees -- Respect for the Views of the Child and Effective Participation at Trial -- The Evolving Capacities of the Child -- Reintegration into Society -- Conclusion -- 3 MACRs and States' Obligations under Regional and International Law Instruments -- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights -- American Convention on Human Rights -- Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 -- Convention against Torture -- United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice -- Convention on the Rights of the Child -- African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child -- European Social Charter -- European Convention on Human Rights -- Conclusion -- 4 Historical Influences on MACRs -- Roman Law, European Law, and European Colonial Law -- Islamic Law -- Soviet Law -- Customary, Traditional, and Religious Law Systems -- Conclusion -- 5 Current MACRs Worldwide and Modern Trends -- Making Sense of MACRs and Punishment: Methodological Considerations -- Current MACRs Worldwide -- Scrutiny under the CRC and Rising MACRs -- Downward Pressures: Isolated Crimes and Widespread Hype -- The MACR as a General Principle of International Law -- Conclusion.

6 Practical Implications and Challenges of MACR Implementation -- No Proof of Age or Reliable Age Estimates -- Problematic State Responses to Children Younger than MACRs -- No Effective Response to Children Younger than MACRs -- MACRs that Threaten Children's Right to Effective Participation at Trial -- Undermining of Doli Incapax and Similar Presumptions -- Instrumental Use of Young Children by Adults for Crimes -- Courts' Disregard for MACRs, and Extrajudicial Acts Against Children -- Conclusion -- 7 Making MACRs Work for Children's Rights -- Defining a More Meaningful MACR -- MACR Provisions: Establishment, Implementation, and Monitoring -- Annex 1 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child -- Annex 2 Worldwide MACR Provisions and Statutory Sources by Country -- Index.