Professor of immigration law Rodrigues bases his mission on the so-called ‘best interest principle’ which was established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and various European guidelines. He concludes that the judge is bound to this principle, even if European asylum and immigration law fails to impose any special procedures for underage asylum-seekers. Rodrigues: ‘I consider the obligation to carry out a best-interest test, which also applies to legal institutions responsible for testing the decision-making process, to be more than sufficient rationale for having a juvenile court magistrate assess what is in the best interests of the child in cases involving unaccompanied underage aliens.’ In an ideal world, according to Rodrigues, the field of work of juvenile court magistrates would include immigration law.

Peter Rodrigues at the conference on 'The child in immigration law'

Rodrigues is looking for collaborators: ‘We are a small institute offering specific expertise. With this excellent volume we wish to make our expertise known, to help in the search for collaborators within and outside Leiden University. Child and migration is a small field of jurisdiction which is becoming increasingly more important. It is about children who are also aliens; a very vulnerable group.’ A research plan, including a PhD position, is being put together, in collaboration with Leiden professors Marielle Bruning (Juvenile Law) and Ton Liefaard (Children’s rights), on the topic of ‘Child and Migration’. ‘We hope to bring in funds that will allow us to carry out PhD research in this important field.’