The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICRC) onNovember 20th 1989. In Latin America, it has caused an upheaval in that area of law. The ICRC hasbeen incorporated in national legislations and has become, in ten years, the benchmark for the area ofchild's rights and related-law on the continent. A group of Latin-American lawyers has introduced anew interpretation of the ICRC that leverages this international legal instrument to strengthendemocracy. The “doctrine of integral protection”, elaborated by these experts, advances newprinciples of the Rights of the Child based on the best interest of the child. Their work has beenendorsed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, by the Committee on the Rights of the Childof the United Nations and by most national legislations of the continent. However, based on conceptsof utopian law, the theoretical proposition advanced by these Latin-American legal writers does notrender effective the ICRC in countries where the condition of children is often appalling. The gapbetween the large number of subjective rights and the actual situation of children demonstrates thelimitations of this ever-growing body of law. As a new element of a legal pluralism, this newinterpretation of the ICRC in Latin America is evidence of the democratisation of the continent and ofthe metamorphosis of the rule of law.
