UNCRC and its position in some countries (Part 7)

By Aditya Singh Raghav

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Currently 196 countries have signed the Convention. The United States of America is the only member state which has not ratified the convention though the US played a key role in drafting the UNCRC. South Sudan did not sign the convention but completed its ratification in 2015 and Somalia also finished its ratification in 2015.

United States

The United States government played an active role in the drafting of the convention but has not ratified it. In the past, the US has permitted the execution and life imprisonment of juvenile offenders, violating article 37 of the Convention. However, the US has ratified two of the optional protocols to the Convention, i.e., the protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. One of the reason behind opposing the ratification was because of some religious groups and political conservatives. They claimed that the Convention was in contradiction to the constitutional language of “treaties” which are related to only international relations (military, alliance, trade, etc.) and not domestic policies. So this Convention was termed as “bag of worms” - an effort to “chip away at the US Constitution”, by former Senator Jesse Helms, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at that time. In the US, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is set at the Federal and State level. 33 states have not set any minimum age for criminal responsibility.

India

India ratified the UNCRC on 11 December 1992 except agreeing on the principles on issues relating to child labor. After ratifying the Convention, India enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 to protect children and cope with juvenile crimes in the country by complying with all the requirements including the minimum age criteria. However, when the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 was passed, changes were made and now children of the age 16 to 18 years can be tried as adults if they commit heinous crimes. This step is criticized for violating the UNCRC. Other countries like UK, France and Germany also try juveniles as adults for the commission of certain crimes. In India, no person can be held criminally responsible for an act committed when under the age of 7 and under 12 if they have an “immature understanding”.

 

Ireland

Ireland signed the Convention on 30 September and ratified it on 28 September 1992. When the UN Committee criticized some of its provisions in a meeting for reviewing the Rights of Children, Ireland established the office of Ombudsman for Children, which was the first of its kind and formulated a new national children’s strategy thereafter. However, the policy was criticized for not allowing the state to intervene in cases of abuse other than in exceptional cases. Then, the Irish Government took the task of making changes in the policy and the Constitution was amended. Now, children under the age of 12 cannot be held liable for any criminal offence but children aged 10 or 11 can be held liable for murder, manslaughter, and rape.

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”. In 2005 the Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed treatment of children under the Convention and found that Saudi Arabia was still imposing the death penalty on juveniles. The Committee defined this act as “a serious violation of fundamental rights”. In a 2004 report, Saudi Arabia claimed that death penalty was never imposed on persons below the age of 18 and a government delegate stated that a judge has power to impose penalty when he decides that the convicted person had reached his majority regardless of actual age when the crime was done. However, Saudi Arabia ended the death penalty for minors in April 2020. Minimum age for criminal responsibility is 12 years and juvenile is defined as any person below 18 years of age.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom ratified the convention on 16 December 1991. In its first report, concerns were raised regarding growth in child poverty and inequality, use of custody for young offenders, and low age of criminal responsibility. In a 2002 report, the Committee expressed concerns for the welfare of children in custody and unequal treatment in child homes. Due to this, in 2008, the UK government removed the reservations and agree to the Convention in all these respects. The age of criminal responsibility in UK is 10 years which is the lowest among European Countries and is often criticized.

Many countries have taken a step towards protecting the children and have enacted laws for better welfare of children but UNCRC has not been implemented properly. Many governments have ratified the convention with several reservations and many are yet to fully implement the UNCRC. Children all over the world suffer violations of their rights and their rights need to protected and polices need to be formulated in the best interests of children. Every child should have the rights to survive, learn, be protected and be heard.

The next and final article in the series gives the author's opinion on why lowering the juvenile age from 18 to 16 years in India is a good step.

Back to Part 1.

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Aditya is a 2^nd year law student at National Law University Delhi. An adventurous person, he actively participates in sports activities and loves to go trekking. He is a football fan and you can easily find him discussing football matches with his friends. His interests include Commercial Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Competition Law.