The four general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are one of its most cited features. This article tracks the evolution of the “general principles” in the drafting process of the Convention and the Committee's determination of the content of its 1991 reporting guidelines. This is followed by an analysis of the approach to the general principles” that the Committee has adopted in its monitoring and reporting processes and General Comments. It concludes that these four articles are not necessarily “general” nor “principles” and suggests how the concept of a set of cross-cutting standards might evolve and perhaps be reformulated in ways that are faithful to both the text of the Convention and subsequent understanding and practice.