Keynote Speaker: Jaap Doek

Professor Jaap Doek is the Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a position he has held since May 2001. He is a Law professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (Family and Juvenile Law) where he was the Dean of the Law Faculty from 1988-1992. Currently he is a deputy justice in the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam and he has been a juvenile court judge in the district court of Alkmaar and the Hague (1978-1985). Jaap was a founding member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and was a member of a working group that conducted a large study on child labour from 1994-97. He has published numerous books and articles on various topics in the area of children's rights and family law in national (Dutch) and international (English) journals.