On the best interest of the children and the evolving capacities

Abstract

The concept of the best interests of the child is one of the leading principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to understand it as reference and possible impulse for the agency of children, the author analyzes this principle together with another principle  codif ied in the Convention:  the principle  of the evolving capacities.  In order to relate it with children’s real life, the author discusses different forms of understanding  this principle,  which go beyond  legal aspects. With reference  to the Capability Approach,  he concludes with a review of the assumptions  on the development  and acknowledgement  of children’s  capacities  as well as the requirements  for their realization.