THE
ARTICLES
1
Definition
of a child
2
Non-
discrimi-
nation
3
Best
interests
of the child
4
Imple-
mentation
of rights
5
Parental
guidance and
the child's
evolving
capacities
6
Survival and
development
7
Name and
nationality
8
Preservation
of identity
9
Separation
from parents
10
Family
reunification
11
Illicit transfer
and
non-return
12
The child's
opinion
13
Freedom of
expression
14
Freedom
of thought,
conscience
and religion
15
Freedom of
association
16
Protection
of privacy
17
Access to
appropriate
information
18
Parental
responsi-
bilities
19
Protection
from abuse
and neglect
20
Protection
of children
without
families
21
Adoption
22
Refugee
children
23
Handicapped
children
24
Health and
health
services
25
Periodic
review of
placement
26
Social
security
27
Standard
of living
28
Education
29
Aims of
education
30
Children of
minorities or
indigenous
people
31
Leisure,
recreation
and cultural
activities
32
Child
labour
33
Drug abuse
34
Sexual
exploitation
35
Sale,
trafficking
and
abduction
36
Other
forms of
exploitation
37
Torture and
deprivation
of liberty
38
Armed
conflicts
39
Rehabili-
tative care
40
Admini-
stration
of juvenile
justice
41
States'
Respect for
existing
standards
IMPLE-
MENTATION
AND
MONITORING
42
The
information
obligation of
the States
Parties
regarding the
Convention
43
The
Committee
on the rights
of the child
44
Reports of
implemen-
tation
45
Methods of
activity of the
Committee
FINAL
CLAUSES
46
The
undersigning
47
Ratification
48
Accession
possibility
49
Inactment
50
Amendments
51
Reservations
52
Denunciation
53
Depositary
54
Original texts
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Article 5 - 41, continuation of Part I: Substantive Provisions
___________________________________________________
- Article 5
- States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights, and duties of
parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community
as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally
responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving
capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by
the child of the rights recognized in the present Convention.
- Article 6
- 1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.
2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and
development of the child.
- Article 7
- 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have
the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality, and, as far as
possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance
with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international
instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
- Article 8
- 1. States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve
his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized
by law without unlawful interference.
2. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her
identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with
a view to speedily re-establishing his or her identity.
- Article 9
- 1. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or
her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to
judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures,
that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such
determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving
abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living
separately and a decision must be made as to the child’s place of residence.
2. In any proceedings pursuant to paragraph 1, all interested parties shall be
given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known.
3. States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one
or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both
parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests.
4. Where such separation results from any action initiated by a State Party,
such as the detention, imprisonment, exile, deportation or death (including death
arising from any cause while the person is in the custody of the State) of one or
both parents or of the child, that State Party shall, upon request, provide the
parents, the child or, if appropriate, another member of the family with the
essential information concerning the whereabouts of the absent member(s) of
the family unless the provision of the information would be detrimental to the
well-being of the child. States Parties shall further ensure that the submission
of such a request shall of itself entail no adverse consequences for the
person(s) concerned.
- Article 10
- 1. In accordance with the obligation of States Parties under article 9,
paragraph 1, applications by a child or his or her parents to enter or leave a State
Party for the purpose of family reunification shall be dealt with by States Parties
in a positive, humane and expeditious manner. States Parties shall further ensure
that the submission of such a request shall entail no adverse consequences for the
applicants and for the members of their family.
2. A child whose parents reside in different States shall have the right to
maintain on a regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances personal
relations and direct contacts with both parents. Towards that end and in
accordance with the obligation of States Parties under article 9, paragraph 1,
States Parties shall respect the right of the child and his or her parents to leave
any country, including their own, and to enter their own country.The right to
leave any country shall be subject only to such restrictions as are prescribed
by law and which are necessary to protect the national security, public order
(ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others and
are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Convention.
- Article 11
- 1. States Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and
non-return of children abroad.
2. To this end, States Parties shall promote the conclusion of bilateral or
multilateral agreements or accession to existing agreements.
- Article 12
- 1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or
her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the
child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age
and maturity of the child.
2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be
heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either
directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner
consistent with the procedural rules of national law.
- Article 13
- 1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of the child’s choice.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these
shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of
public health or morals.
- Article 14
- 1. States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion.
2. States Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when
applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of
his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child.
3. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such
limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety,
order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
- Article 15
- 1. States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and
to freedom of peaceful assembly.
2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those
imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic
society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order
(ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the
rights and freedoms of others.
- Article 16
- 1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or
her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or
her honour and reputation.
2. The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference
or attacks.
_________________________________________
- Article 17
- States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media
and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a
diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the
promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and
mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:
(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of
social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance
with the spirit of article 29;
(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and
dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural,
national and international sources;
(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children’s books;
(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs
of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;
(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of
the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing
in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.
- Article 18
- 1. States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the
principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and
development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have
the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The
best interests of the child will be their basic concern.
2. For the purpose of guaranteeing and promoting the rights set forth in the
present Convention, States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to parents
and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and
shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care
of children.
3. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that children of
working parents have the right to benefit from child-care services and facilities for
which they are eligible.
- Article 19
- 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social
and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental
violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or
exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal
guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.
2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective
procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary
support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as
for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation,
treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore,
and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.
- Article 20
- 1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family
environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain
in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance
provided by the State.
2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure alternative
care for such a child.
3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, Kafala of Islamic law,
adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of
children. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the
desirability of continuity in a child’s upbringing and to the child’s ethnic,
religious, cultural and linguistic background.
- Article 21
- States Parties that recognize and/or permit the system of adoption shall
ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration
and they shall:
(a) Ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only by competent
authorities who determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures
and on the basis of all pertinent and reliable information, that the adoption is
permissible in view of the child’s status concerning parents, relatives and legal
guardians and that, if required, the persons concerned have given their informed
consent to the adoption on the basis of such counselling as may be necessary;
(b) Recognize that inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative
means of child’s care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive
family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child’s country of origin;
(c) Ensure that the child concerned by inter-country adoption enjoys safeguards
and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption;
(d) Take all appropriate measures to ensure that, in inter-country adoption, the
placement does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it;
(e) Promote, where appropriate, the objectives of the present article by concluding
bilateral or multilateral arrangements or agreements, and endeavour, within this
framework, to ensure that the placement of the child in another country is
carried out by competent authorities or organs.
- Article 22
- 1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who
is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with
applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether
unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person,
receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment
of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other international
human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties.
2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate,
co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent
intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations co-operating
with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents
or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information
necessary for reunification with his or her family. In cases where no parents or
other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same
protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her
family environment for any reason, as set forth in the
present Convention.
_________________________________________
- Article 23
- 1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should
enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote
self-reliance, and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.
2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and
shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the
eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which
application is made and which is appropriate to the child’s condition and to the
circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child.
3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in
accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of
charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the
parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the
disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health
care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation
opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible
social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and
spiritual development.
4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international co-operation, the
exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of
medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including
dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation,
education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to
improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas.
In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing
countries.
- Article 24
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness
and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is
deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.
2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular,
shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To diminish infant and child mortality;
(b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to
all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care;
(c) To combat disease and malnutrition including within the framework of primary
health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and
through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water,
taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;
(d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers;
(e) To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children,
are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic
knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breast-feeding,
hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents;
(f) To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents, and family planning
education and services.
3. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view
to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.
4. States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation
with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized
in the present article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the
needs of developing countries.
- Article 25
- States Parties recognize the right of a child who has been placed by the
competent authorities for the purposes of care, protection or treatment of his or
her physical or mental health, to a periodic review of the treatment provided to
the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement.
- Article 26
- 1. States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social
security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to
achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law.
2. The benefits should, where appropriate, be granted, taking into account the
resources and the circumstances of the child and persons having responsibility
for the maintenance of the child, as well as any other consideration relevant to
an application for benefits made by or on behalf of the child.
- Article 27
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living
adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
2. The parent(s) or others responsible for the child have the primary responsibility
to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities, the conditions of living
necessary for the child’s development.
3. States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means,
shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the
child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance
and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.
4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to secure the recovery of
maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial
responsibility for the child, both within the State Party and from abroad. In
particular, where the person having financial responsibility for the child lives
in a State different from that of the child, States Parties shall promote the
accession to international agreements or the conclusion of such agreements,
as well as the making of other appropriate arrangements.
- Article 28
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with
a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity,
they shall, in particular:
(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education,
including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible
to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free
education and offering financial assistance in case of need;
(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every
appropriate means;
(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and
accessible to all children;
(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction
of drop-out rates.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school
discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human
dignity and in conformity with the present Convention.
3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international co-operation in
matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the
elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating
access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods.
In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing
countries.
- Article 29
- 1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:
(a) The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and
physical abilities to their fullest potential;
(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,
and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural
identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which
the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for
civilizations different from his or her own;
(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the
spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship
among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of
indigenous origin;
(e) The development of respect for the natural environment.
2. No part of the present article or article 28 shall be
construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to
establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the
observance of the principles set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article
and to the requirements that the education given in such institutions shall
conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.
- Article 30
- In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or
persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or
who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other
members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and
practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.
- Article 31
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to
engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child
and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to fully
participate in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of
appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic,
recreational and leisure activity.
_________________________________________
- Article 32
- 1. State Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from
economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to
the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
2. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end,
and having regard to the relevant provisions of other international
instruments, States Parties shall in particular:
(a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;
(b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;
(c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective
enforcement of the present article.
- Article 33
- States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative,
administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from
the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in
the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit
production and trafficking of such substances.
- Article 34
- States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in
particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
(a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;
(b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;
(c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.
- Article 35
- States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral
measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any
purpose or in any form.
- Article 36
- States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation
prejudicial to any aspects of the child’s welfare.
- Article 37
- States Parties shall ensure that:
(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment
without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by
persons below 18 years of age;
(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.
The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the
law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time;
(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect
for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into
account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child
deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in
the child’s best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact
with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in
exceptional circumstances;
(d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have
the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well
as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty
before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and
to a prompt decision on any such action.
- Article 38
- 1. States Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules
of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which
are relevant to the child.
2. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who
have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.
3. States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained
the age of 15 years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons
who have attained the age of 15 years but who have not attained the age of
18 years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest.
4. In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to
protect thecivilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall take all
feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected
by an armed conflict.
- Article 39
- States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and
psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form
of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and
reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health,
selfrespect and dignity of the child.
- Article 40
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused
of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner
consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, which
reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms
of others and which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of
promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s
assuming a constructive role in society.
2. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of international
instruments, States Parties shall, in particular, ensure that:
(a) No child shall be alleged as, be accused of, or recognized as having
infringed the penal law by reason of acts or omissions that were not
prohibited by national or international law at the
time they were committed;
(b) Every child alleged as or accused of having infringed the penal law
has at least the following guarantees:
(i) To be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law;
(ii) To be informed promptly and directly of the charges against him or
her, and, if appropriate, through his or her parents or legal guardians,
and to have legal or other appropriate assistance in the preparation and
presentation of his or her defence;
(iii) To have the matter determined without delay by a competent,
independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing
according to law, in the presence of legal or other appropriate assistance
and, unless it is considered not to be in the best interest of the child,
in particular, taking into account his or her age or situation, his or her
parents or legal guardians;
(iv) Not to be compelled to give testimony or to confess guilt; to examine
or have examined adverse witnesses and to obtain the participation and
examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under conditions of equality;
(v) If considered to have infringed the penal law, to have this decision and
any measures imposed in consequence thereof reviewed by a higher competent,
independent and impartial authority or judicial body according to law;
(vi) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if the child cannot
understand or speak the language used;
(vii) To have his or her privacy fully respected at all stages of the proceedings.
3. States Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures,
authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as,
accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, and in particular:
(a) The establishment of a minimum age below which children shall be
presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law;
(b) Whenever appropriate and desirable, measures for dealing with such
children without resorting to judicial proceedings, providing that human rights
and legal safeguards are fully respected.
4. A variety of dispositions, such as care, guidance and supervision orders;
counselling; probation; foster care;
education and vocational training programmes and other alternatives to
institutional care shall be available to ensure that children are dealt with in
a manner appropriate to their wellbeing being and proportionate both to their
circumstances and the offence.
- Article 41
- Nothing in the present Convention shall affect any provisions which are
more conducive to the realization of the rights of the child and which may be
contained in:
(a) The law of a State Party; or
(b) International law in force for that State
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