| School-leaving age |
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From CRC/C/65/Add. 22 of 14 March 2003
47. Information on the minimum legal age set by national legislation for various purposes is given below.
(a) End of compulsory education - 10 years. The Government is considering raising the age for completion of compulsory education;
234. Primary education was made compulsory for children aged 6 to 10 years by the Compulsory Primary Education Act 1990.
From CRC/C/3/Add. 38 of 7 December 1995
127. Basic education in the country consists of five years of primary education followed by five years of secondary education and two years of higher secondary education. |
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| Minimum age of employment |
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From CRC/C/65/Add. 22 of 14 March 2003
47. Information on the minimum legal age set by national legislation for various purposes is given below.
(b) Admission to employment - various ages between 12 and 21 years (see article 32).
350. At present, Bangladesh has no national policy on child labour, but ILO is providing support for the formulation of a child labour policy. A draft is expected to be ready by 2001. Existing legislation is antiquated and fragmented and deals only with children working in the formal sector. There is no single code or law dealing with this area. Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and Employment and ILO-IPEC will include a review of existing child labour laws with a view to removing anomalies, fixing a uniform minimum age for admission to work at 14 years (18 years for hazardous occupations) and prohibiting the employment of children in hazardous operations in shops and other establishments.
351. There are a number of statutes which stipulate the minimum ages at which children can legally work in certain sectors. These are:
(a) Mines (Mines Act 1923) - 15 years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(b) Shops and other commercial establishments (Shops and Establishments Act 1965) - 12 years;
(c) Factories (Factories Act 1965) - 14 years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(d) Railways and ports (Employment of Children Act 1938) - 15 years;
(e) Workshops where hazardous work performed (Employment of Children Act 1938) - 12 years;
(f) Tea gardens (Tea Plantation Labour Ordinance 1962) - 15 years.
353. The Employment of Children Act prohibits children under 12 years from working in workshops where any of a number of listed processes is carried on. Though not explicitly described as such, these processes are all hazardous. They include weaving, tanning and the manufacture of bidi, soap, carpets, matches, explosives or fireworks. However, an important exemption to this prohibition is made in the case of family-owned and family-run workshops not using outside hired labour. The Factories Act prevents children under 18 years from working on dangerous machines without proper instruction about the dangers and necessary precautions, in addition to training or supervision. All forms of forced labour are prohibited under the Constitution. Unlawful compulsory labour is also an offence under the Penal Code 1860.
From CRC/C/3/Add. 38 of 7 December 1995
44. The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act of
1933 regards a person below the age of 15 years as being a
child. The Employment of Children Act of 1938 prohibits the
employment of children of 12 years in regular jobs. It has,
however, provided labour by children of 12 years of age by
restricting
certain jobs for children over 12 years and
again certain jobs between 15 and 17 years. The Bengal
Vagrancy Act 1943 considers a person below the age of 14 years
as a child.
45. The Factories Act of 1965 defines a
child as a person who has not completed 16 years of age. It
prohibits employment of children below the age of 14 years in
any factory. The Children's Act of 1974 states that a child is
a person below the age of 16 years.
148. According to the Children's Act,
children under the age of 15 will not be employed or permitted
to work in any occupation connected with (a) transport of
passengers, goods or mails by the railway; (b) and handling of
goods within the limits of any port. The existing law also
bars children below 12 years of age from working in workshops.
It does not, however, forbid any child from working as an
apprentice or from vocational training. The Act further
implies that it does not restrict child employment in
agricultural activity or any other light work in the informal
sector.
14. The Shops and Establishment Act, 1965 prohibits employment of children not having completed 12 years of
age, in shops and commercial establishments.
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| Minimum age for marriage |
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From CRC/C/65/Add. 22 of 14 March 2003
47. Information on the minimum legal age set by national legislation for various purposes is given below.
(c) Marriage - 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, but religious personal laws permit marriage at an earlier age.
From CRC/C/3/Add. 38 of 7 December 1995
43. The legal system in the country also makes a
distinction between boys and girls in defining a child. This
is especially apparent in the Child Marriage Restraint Act of
1929. In this Act the age of majority, defined in terms of
contracting a valid marriage, has been placed at 21 years for
boys but 18 years for girls.
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| Minimum age for criminal responsibility |
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From CRC/C/65/Add. 22 of 14 March 2003
47. Information on the minimum legal age set by national legislation for various purposes is given below.
(h) Criminal responsibility - full criminal responsibility from the age of 12 years; rebuttable presumption of capacity to infringe the criminal law between the age of 7 and 11 years.
312. Under the Penal Code 1860, children in Bangladesh have full criminal responsibility from the age of 12. Regarding children aged 7 to 11 years, there is a rebuttable presumption of capacity to infringe the criminal law, the relevant test being whether a child has "attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge of the nature and consequences" of his or her conduct. Although cases involving children in this age group are rare, the legislature wishes to retain the flexibility to impose criminal responsibility in exceptional cases (taking account of the child's age when deciding on an appropriate sentence).
From CRC/C/3/Add. 38 of 7 December 1995
Information unavailable
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