United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Convention defines a child as any human being under the age of eighteen, unless the
age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...
is attained earlier under national legislation. Nations that have ratified this convention or have acceded to it are bound by
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. When a state has signed the treaty but not ratified it, it is not yet bound by the treaty's provisions but is already obliged to not act contrary to its purpose. The UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a body of experts that monitor and report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee also monitors the Convention's three optional protoc ...
, composed of 18 independent experts, is responsible for supervising the implementation of the Convention by the states that have ratified it. Their governments are required to report to and appear before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on their progress regarding the advancement of the implementation of the Convention and the status of child rights in their country. Their reports and the committee's written views and concerns are available on the committee's website. Individuals can appeal to the Committee on the Rights of the Child if they believe that rights, according to the Convention, have been violated. The third possibility for monitoring the implementation of the Convention is inquiries that the Committee on the Rights of the Child can carry out on their own initiative if they have reliable information that leads them to believe that a member state has violated the Convention's rights. However, "states ... may opt-out from the inquiry procedure, at the time of signature or ratification or accession". Once a year, the Committee submits a report to the Third Committee of the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, which also hears a statement from the CRC Chair, and the Assembly adopts a Resolution on the Rights of the Child. The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention and opened it for signature on 20 November 1989 (the 30th anniversary of its
Declaration of the Rights of the Child The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, sometimes known as the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, is an international document promoting child rights, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb and adopted by the League of Nations in 1924, and adop ...
). It came into force on 2 September 1990, after it was ratified by the required number of nations. As of , 196 countries are party to it, including every member of the United Nations except the United States.United Nations (2020)
"Chapter IV. Human Rights. 11) Convention on the Rights of the Child"
in: ''United Nations Treaty Collection. Depositary. Status of Treaties.'' . Retrieved 8 September 2020.
Child Rights Information Network (2008)
''Convention on the Rights of the Child''
. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
Amnesty International USA (2007).

. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
Two optional protocols were adopted on 25 May 2000. The First Optional Protocol restricts the involvement of children in military conflicts, and the Second Optional Protocol prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
. More than 170 states have ratified both protocols. A third optional protocol relating to communication of complaints was adopted in December 2011 and opened for signature on 28 February 2012. It came into effect on 14 April 2014.


Contents

The Convention deals with child-specific needs and rights. It requires that the "nations that ratify this convention are bound to it by international law." Ratifying states must act in the
best interests Best interests or best interests of the child is a child rights principle, which derives from Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that “in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private ...
of the child. In all jurisdictions implementing the Convention requires compliance with
child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the righ ...
and guardianship laws as every child has basic rights, including the right to life, to their own name and identity, to be raised by their
parent A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
s within a family or cultural grouping, and to have a relationship with both parents, even if they are separated. The Convention obliges states to allow parents to exercise their parental responsibilities. The Convention also acknowledges that children have the right to express their opinions and to have those opinions heard and acted upon when appropriate, to be protected from abuse or
exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...
, and to have their
privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
protected. It requires that their lives not be subject to excessive interference. The Convention also obliges signatory states to separate legal representation for a child in any judicial dispute concerning their care and asks that the child's viewpoint be heard in such cases. The Convention forbids
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for children. In its General Comment 8 (2006) the Committee stated that there was an "obligation of all state parties to move quickly to prohibit and eliminate all corporal punishment and all other cruel or degrading forms of punishment of children". Article 19 of the Convention states that state parties must "take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence", but it makes no reference to corporal punishment. The Committee's interpretation of this section to encompass a prohibition on corporal punishment has been rejected by several state parties to the Convention, including
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. The
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
has referred to the Convention when interpreting the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
.


Global standards and cultural relativism

Global human rights standards were challenged at the
World Conference on Human Rights The World Conference on Human Rights was held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, on 14 to 25 June 1993. It was the first human rights conference held since the end of the Cold War. The main result of the conference was the Vienna Declarati ...
in Vienna (1993) when a number of governments (prominently China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Iran) raised serious objections to the idea of
universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...
human rights. There are unresolved tensions between "universalistic" and "relativistic" approaches in the establishment of standards and strategies designed to prevent or overcome the abuse of children's capacity to work.


Child marriage and slavery

Some scholars link child marriages to slavery and slavery-like practices. Child marriage as slavery is not directly addressed by the Convention.


States party and signatories

The term “party” refers to a State that gives its explicit consent to be bound by the treaty.   As of , 196 countries are
parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
to the UNCRC treaty (some with stated reservations or interpretations) include every member of the United Nations except the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
has either ratified or accepted the rights articulated for the child under eighteen or below the age of majority in that state. The most recent ratifications of the convention were by
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
,
Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...
, the
State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...
, and the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. South Sudan ratified the convention in January 2015.
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
's domestic ratification finished in January 2015 and the instrument was deposited with the United Nations in October 2015.
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
incorporated the Convention into domestic law on 20 November 2014, and signed an Instrument of Accession to the CRC on 16 May 2016. All successor states of Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) made declarations of succession to the treaty and have currently apply it. The convention does not apply in the territories of
Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...
,
Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...
and
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
.
Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
was also excluded until 2020.


Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan ratified the Convention on 21 July 1992. In terms of the ratification of the Convention, a significant number of laws, decrees and resolutions were approved in Azerbaijan by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers focusing on the development of the child welfare system. In this regard, the Convention No. 182 of the
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
, i.e. the Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the Recommendation No. 190 of the International Labour Organization and the
Hague Adoption Convention The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (or Hague Adoption Convention) is an international convention dealing with international adoption, child laundering, and child trafficking in ...
were ratified by Milli Majlis, the parliament of Azerbaijan, in 2004. There is a concern over the administration of juvenile justice in Azerbaijan, mostly regarding compliance with articles 37, 39, and 40 of the Convention, as well as other relevant standards such as the Beijing Rules, the Riyadh Guidelines, and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. Therefore, international organizations assisted Azerbaijan to improve the situation in the field of juvenile justice. Juvenile offenders have been added to the Presidential pardons on a regular basis. Azerbaijan has built cooperation with many international organizations, particularly with UNICEF in child protection. In 1993, UNICEF began its activity in Azerbaijan. In 2005, Azerbaijan and UNICEF signed a five-year country program. The country program for 2005-2009 was implemented in child protection, children's health and nutrition, children's education and youth health, and their development and participation. Also, UNICEF supports Azerbaijan in improving its juvenile justice system, establishing an alternative care system and raising awareness among youth about HIV/AIDS.


Canada

Canada became a signatory to the Convention on 28 May 1990 and ratified in 1991. Youth criminal laws in Canada underwent major changes resulting in the
Youth Criminal Justice Act The ''Youth Criminal Justice Act'' (YCJA; french: Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour les adolescents) (the ''Act'') is a Canadian statute, which came into effect on April 1, 2003. It covers the prosecution of youths for criminal offen ...
(YCJA) which went into effect on 1 April 2003. The Act specifically refers to Canada's different commitments under the Convention. The convention was influential in the
administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...
decision of ''
Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) ''Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)'',
999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...
2 SCR 817 is a leading Canadian administrative law decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court provided guidance on the standard of judicial review of administrative decisi ...
''.


India

India ratified UNCRC on 11 December 1992, agreeing in principle to all articles but with certain reservations on issues relating to child labor. In India, there is a law that children under the age of 18 should not work, but there is no outright ban on child labor. The practice is generally permitted in most industries except those deemed "hazardous", for which minimum ages apply. Although a law in October 2006 banned child labor in hotels, restaurants, and as domestic servants, there continues to be a high demand for children as hired help in the home. There are different estimates as to the number of child laborers in the country. According to the government's conservative estimate, in 2011 4.4 million children under 14 years of age were working in India, while the
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
in a statement of 2016 cites a study by the Campaign Against Child Labour that estimates the number of child laborers in India at 12.7 million. In 2016, the Child and Adolescent Labour (Amendment) Act was introduced, which prohibited children's economic employment under the age of 14 years and the employment of adolescents (14–17 years of age) in hazardous occupations. Some exceptions exist for children under 14 —they can aid in the family enterprise and participate in the entertainment industry. It must not harm their school education and they must not work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.


Iran

Iran has adhered to the convention (except for alleged child slavery) since 1991 and ratified it in the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 1994. Upon ratification, Iran made the following reservation: "If the text of the Convention is or becomes incompatible with the domestic laws and Islamic standards at any time or in any case, the Government of the Islamic Republic shall not abide by it." Iran has also signed both optional protocols which relate to the special protection of children against involvement in armed conflict and the sale of children and sexual exploitation. Although Iran is a state party to the Convention, international human rights organisations and foreign governments routinely denounced executions of Iranian child offenders as a violation of the treaty. But on 10 February 2012, Iran's parliament changed the controversial law of executing juveniles. In the new law, the age of 18 (solar year) would be considered the minimum age for adulthood and offenders under this age will be sentenced under a separate law. Based on the previous law, which was revised, girls at the age of 9 and boys at 15 (lunar year, 11 days shorter than a solar year) were fully responsible for their crimes. "According to Islamic sources, the criterion for criminal responsibility is reaching the age of maturity which, according to the Shi'ite School of the IRI, is 9 lunar years (8 years and 9 months) for girls and 15 lunar years (14 years and 7 months) for boys."


Ireland

Ireland signed the Convention on 30 September 1990 and ratified it, without reservation, on 28 September 1992. In response to criticisms expressed in the 1998 review by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, the Irish government established the office of Ombudsman for Children. It drew up a national children's strategy. In 2006, following concerns expressed by the committee that the wording of the Irish Constitution does not allow the State to intervene in abuse cases other than in very exceptional cases, the Irish government undertook to amend the constitution to make a more explicit commitment to children's rights.


Israel

Israel ratified the Convention in 1991. In 2010, UNICEF criticized Israel for its failure to create a government-appointed commission on children's rights or adopt a national children's rights strategy or program to implement various Israeli laws addressing children's rights. The report criticizes Israel for holding that the Convention does not apply in the West Bank and for defining Palestinians under the age of 16 in the occupied territories as children, even though Israeli law defines a child as being under 18, in line with the Convention. A contemporaneous report by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
found that Israel's investment in children is below the international average. The actual investment had fallen between 1995 and 2006. In 2012, the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a body of experts that monitor and report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee also monitors the Convention's three optional protoc ...
criticized Israel for its bombing attacks on Palestinians in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, stating, "Destruction of homes and damage to schools, streets and other public facilities gravely affect children" and called them "gross violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and international humanitarian law". It also criticized Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel, which traumatized Israeli children, calling on all parties to protect children.


New Zealand

New Zealand ratified the Convention on 6 April 1993 with reservations concerning the right to distinguish between persons according to the nature of their authority to be in New Zealand, the need for legislative action on economic exploitation—which it argued was adequately protected by existing law, and the provisions for the separation of juvenile offenders from adult offenders. In 1994, the
Court of Appeal of New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather t ...
dismissed the suggestion that the Minister for Immigration and his department were at liberty to ignore the convention, arguing that this would imply that the country's adherence was "at least partly window-dressing". The
Children's Commissioner Act 2003 The Children's Commissioner Act 2003 (Public Act no 121 2003) is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament. It reformed the office of the Children's Commissioner as the Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) and implemented the United Nations C ...
enhanced the
Office of the Children's Commissioner The Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC; mi, Manaakitia A Tatou Tamariki) is an independent New Zealand Crown entity that was established under the Children's Commissioner Act 2003. Its main responsibilities are to protect the rights, heal ...
(OCC), giving it significantly stronger investigative powers. The OCC is responsible for convening the UNCROC Monitoring Group, which monitors the New Zealand Government's implementation of the Children's Convention, its Optional Protocols and the Government's response to recommendations from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The monitoring group comprises members from the
Human Rights Commission (New Zealand) The Human Rights Commission ( Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet. Legislation and func ...
,
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
New Zealand, Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa and
Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
New Zealand. In May 2007, New Zealand passed the
Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 (formerly the Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill) is an amendment to New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 which removed the legal defence of "reasona ...
, which removed the defence of "reasonable force" for the purpose of correction. In its third and final vote, Parliament voted 113 to eight in favour of the legislation.


Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia ratified the Convention in 1996, with a reservation "with respect to all such articles as are in conflict with the provisions of Islamic law" which is the national law. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reviewed Saudi Arabia's treatment of children under the Convention in January 2005, strongly condemned the government for its practice of imposing the death penalty on juveniles, calling it "a serious violation of the fundamental rights". The committee said it was "deeply alarmed" over the discretionary power judges hold to treat juveniles as adults: In its 2004 report, the Saudi Arabian government had stated that it "never imposes capital punishment on persons ... below the age of 18". The government delegation later acknowledged that a judge could impose the death penalty whenever he decided that the convicted person had reached his or her majority, regardless of the person's actual age at the time of the crime or at the time of the scheduled execution. But the death penalty was ended for minors in April 2020. On 20 October 2020,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
said that
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
was seeking the death penalty against eight Saudi men who were accused of committing protest-related crimes at the age of 14 and 17. One of the boys who turned 18 in 2020 was charged with a nonviolent crime that he allegedly committed aged 9. Under the hudud – an Islamic law – prosecutors have reportedly sought the death penalty for the eight men, which if granted will make them ineligible for pardon.


Sweden

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has status as Swedish law since 1 January 2020. Also before that, Swedish legislation was well in line with the convention and went in some cases further. It was given this status because Swedish authorities and the government thought the childs right perspective was not applied sufficiently in Swedish social welfare decisions and law enforcement.


United Kingdom

The United Kingdom ratified the Convention on 16 December 1991, with several declarations and reservations, and made its first report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 1995. Concerns raised by the Committee included the growth in child poverty and inequality, the extent of violence towards children, the use of custody for young offenders, the low age of criminal responsibility, and the lack of opportunities for children and young people to express views. The 2002 report of the Committee expressed similar concerns, including the welfare of children in custody, unequal treatment of asylum seekers, and the negative impact of poverty on children's rights. In September 2008, the UK government decided to withdraw its reservations and agree to the Convention in these respects. The 2002 report's criticism of the legal defence of "reasonable chastisement" of children by parents, which the Committee described as "a serious violation of the dignity of the child", was rejected by the UK Government. The Minister for Children, Young People and Families commented that while fewer parents are using smacking as a form of discipline, the majority said they would not support a ban. The devolved legislatures of Scotland and Wales have passed laws banning smacking, in force in November 2020 and March 2022 respectively. In evidence to the Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom. Membership As at November 2022, the members of the committee ...
, the Committee was criticised by the Family Education Trust for "adopting radical interpretations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in its pursuit of an agenda". The Joint Committee's report recommended that "the time has come for the Government to act upon the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning the corporal punishment of children and the incompatibility of the defence of reasonable chastisement with its obligations under the Convention." The UK Government responded that "the use of physical punishment is a matter for individual parents to decide". Although child slavery is difficult to gauge within the UK, child slaves are imported into the UK and sold. Laws and enforcement mechanisms against slavery and human trafficking were consolidated and strengthened in the
Modern Slavery Act 2015 The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is designed to combat modern slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offences relating to trafficking and slavery. The act extends essentially to England and W ...
. On 1 September 2020, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
. This bill would enshrine the UNCRC into
Scots Law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...
. On 19 January, MSPs passed the general principles of the bill at stage 1, 118–0. The bill received many endorsements, including strong endorsement from the
Scottish Youth Parliament The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is a youth-led, democratic organisation which aims to represent the young people of Scotland. The SYP is made up of around 166 democratically-elected representatives aged 14–25 from across Scotland. Represe ...
. The bill passed unanimously on its third stage in the Scottish Parliament. However, in October 2021 the UK Supreme Court held that central provisions of the bill were outwith the authority of the Scottish Parliament, and the bill has not taken effect.


United States

The United States government played an active role in the drafting of the Convention and signed it on 16 February 1995, but has not ratified it. It has been claimed that American opposition to the Convention stems primarily from political and religious conservatives. For example,
The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...
considers that "a civil society in which moral authority is exercised by religious congregations, family, and other private associations is fundamental to the American order", and the
Home School Legal Defense Association The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a United States-based organization that seeks to aid homeschooling families through legal representation. HSLDA describes itself as a " Christian organization." HSLDA is organized as a 501 ...
(HSLDA) argues that the CRC threatens
homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...
. Most notably, at the time several states permitted the execution and
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
of juvenile offenders, a direct contravention of Article 37 of the Convention. The
landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
2005
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision in '' Roper v. Simmons'' declared
juvenile execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
s to be unconstitutional as "
cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisd ...
"; in the 2012 case '' Miller v. Alabama'', the court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. State laws regarding the practice of
closed adoption Closed adoption (also called "confidential" adoption and sometimes "secret" adoption) is a process by which an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent(s) is kept sealed. Often, the biological father is not re ...
may also require an overhaul in light of the Convention's position that children have a right to identity from birth. During his 2008 campaign for President, Senator
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
described the failure to ratify the Convention as "embarrassing" and promised to review the issue but, as President, he never did. No
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
has submitted the treaty to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
requesting its advice and consent to ratification since the US signed it in 1995. The United States has ratified two of the optional protocols to the Convention: the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.


Optional protocols

There are three optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The first, the
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), also known as the child soldier treaty, is a multilateral treaty whereby states agree to: 1) prohibit the conscription ...
requires parties to ensure that children under the age of 18 are not recruited compulsorily into their armed forces and calls on governments to do everything feasible to ensure that members of their armed forces who are under 18 years do not take part in hostilities. This protocol entered into force on 12 July 2002.United Nations Treaty Collection
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
. Retrieved on 20 October 2010.
As of , 172 states are party to the protocol, and another 8 states have signed but not ratified it. The second, the
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and requires parties to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. ...
, requires parties to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
. It entered into force on 18 January 2002.United Nations Treaty Collection
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
. Retrieved on 20 October 2010.
As of , 178 states are party to the protocol, and another 7 states have signed but not ratified it. A third, the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure is a treaty open to states that are party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Protocol was adopted by the United Nations' General Assem ...
, which would allow children or their representatives to file individual complaints for violation of the rights of children, was adopted in December 2011 and opened for signature on 28 February 2012. The protocol currently has 52 signatures and 50 ratifications: it entered into force on 14 April 2014 following the tenth ratification three months beforehand. Proposals for additional optional protocols have also been made. In 2020, the independent " Lancet-
WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
-
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
Commission" proposed the development of an optional protocol to protect children from the marketing of tobacco, alcohol, formula milk, sugar-sweetened beverages, gambling, and potentially damaging social media, and the inappropriate use of their personal data. (The WHO also has their own framework for making treaties.) In 2022, a group of international child rights and education experts joined a call for an update to the
right to education The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, compulsory primary education for ...
under international law to explicitly guarantee children’s right to free pre-primary and free secondary education.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
has suggested doing so through a fourth optional protocol to the CRC.


Parental rights

On 7 October 2020, the vote on United Nations Draft Resolution A/HRC/45/L.48/Rev.1 – "Rights of the child: Realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment" submitted by Germany (on behalf of the European Union) and Uruguay (on behalf of GRULAC) was adopted. The Russian Federation's Amendments L.57 and L.64 to include parental rights were rejected. The Russian delegate, Kristina Sukacheva, remarked that governments voting against parents deliberately shirk their international responsibilities to provide for the rights of the child. At the time of adoption, Uruguay stated that the incorporation of parental rights language as proposed by the Russian Federation would "bring imbalance to the resolution and would also go against the spirit of the resolution".


See also


References


External links

*
Signatures and ratifications
at depositary
Information for children on the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Information on the Convention of the Rights of the Child
on the website of UNICEF, the children's organization of the United Nations.

on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (including its Optional Protocols) in th

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090729071013/http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.25/annex-vi-crin.asp NGO Alternative Reportssubmitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Biography of Eglantyne Jebb, author of the original Declaration

Convention on the Rights of the Child - Guidelines regarding the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
(adopted by the Committee at its eighty-first session on 13–31 May 2019). {{DEFAULTSORT:Child Rights Convention United Nations treaties
Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Con ...
Human rights instruments Treaties concluded in 1989 Treaties entered into force in 1990 Treaties of the Islamic State of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Andorra Treaties of the People's Republic of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of Benin Treaties of Bhutan Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Brunei Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Myanmar Treaties of Burundi Treaties of the State of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of Zaire Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Dominica Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of East Timor Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Egypt Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Equatorial Guinea Treaties of Eritrea Treaties of Estonia Treaties of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Greece Treaties of Grenada Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Haiti Treaties of Honduras Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of India Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Iran Treaties of Ba'athist Iraq Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Israel Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kenya Treaties of Kiribati Treaties of North Korea Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Malawi Treaties of Malaysia Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of the Marshall Islands Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Monaco Treaties of the Mongolian People's Republic Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Nauru Treaties of Nepal Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niue Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of Palau Treaties of the State of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Papua New Guinea Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of Romania Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Samoa Treaties of San Marino Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Saudi Arabia Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Singapore Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of Somalia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of South Sudan Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sri Lanka Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Thailand Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Tuvalu Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of East Germany Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Yugoslavia 1980 in New York City Treaties adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolutions Treaties extended to Anguilla Treaties extended to Bermuda Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands Treaties extended to the Cayman Islands Treaties extended to the Falkland Islands Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Montserrat Treaties extended to the Pitcairn Islands Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Treaties extended to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Treaties extended to the Turks and Caicos Islands Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to British Hong Kong Treaties extended to Portuguese Macau Treaties extended to Jersey November 1989 events