| School-leaving age |
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223. The draft National Ordinance is now before Parliament. In order to maximize school attendance, it imposes two duties on parents. Firstly, they must ensure that the child is enrolled at a school by 1 May in the school year in which it reaches the age of 4. Secondly, they must ensure that the child continues to attend school during regular school hours at least until it has completed a course of general secondary or secondary vocational education, or has reached the age of 17, whichever occurs first. |
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| Minimum age of employment |
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26. Employment legislation distinguishes between people of 18 and over, young people between 14 and 17, and children younger than 14. Article 15 of the National Ordinance on Employment (Official Bulletin 1990, No. GT 57) prohibits the employment of children. With regard to young people aged between 14 and 17, article 17 of the Ordinance in principle bans working at night and work which is classified as hazardous by a subsequent national decree.
334. It is a criminal offence for children under 15 to do any work, whether paid or unpaid. Furthermore, young persons aged 15 to 17 are protected by law against night labour; they may not perform any kind of work, paid or unpaid, between 1900 and 0700 hours.
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| Minimum age for marriage |
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31. NBWA (New Aruban Civil Code) sets the age-limit for entering into marriage for both men and women at 18 years. Exceptions may be made if the couple wishing to marry have both reached the age of 16 and the woman submits a doctor's certificate attesting to the fact that she is pregnant or has already borne a child.
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| Minimum age for criminal responsibility |
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27. Article 477 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Official Bulletin 1996, No. 75) reads as follows: "No one may be prosecuted for an offence committed before the age of 12 years."
28. A limited number of coercive measures may be applied in the case of a minor under the age of 12 who is suspected of having committed a criminal offence. These include arrest, entry into premises for the purposes of arrest, a body search, search of clothing, detention in custody for the purposes of questioning and confiscation of objects in his/her possession.
29. Children over the age of 12 are criminally liable, though special criminal provisions apply to those aged between 12 and 18. These provisions differ from those of the criminal law applicable to adults in that the courts may take the defendant's age into account as well as the importance of training and education (see arts. 40 to 41 (m) of the Aruban Criminal Code).
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