| School-leaving age |
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244. Ministerial Decree No. 3949/87 of 2 September 1987 deals only with the minimum age (6) and the maximum age (16) of admission to a State school providing basic education.
936. […] article 23 recalls that "every child shall have the right to education and training under the responsibility of the parents and based on respect for their freedom of choice. Every adolescent shall be entitled to vocational training."
937. According to articles 24 and 25, the State organizes public education which is free and accessible to all and recognizes the right to private education. Primary education is compulsory for all.
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| Minimum age of employment |
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1131. The Labour Code governs workers whose labour contracts, of whatever kind, are enforceable in Madagascar. Accordingly, all employees, whatever their status or sector of activity, are subject to the provisions of the Code (art. 1). Minor children helping their fathers to work are not workers within the meaning of the Labour Code (art. 1, para. 4). The minimum age of employment is 14 years. Before that age children may not be employed in any enterprise, even as apprentices, without authorization by the labour inspector, who will take a decision on the basis of local conditions: the work must not endanger the health of children or their normal development (art. 100).
1135. Employment of women, and a fortiori children, in night work is prohibited, including in factories, plants, mines and quarries, yards, workshops and outbuildings. However, a derogation may be authorized by the Minister of Labour, following investigation by the competent labour inspector into conditions of employment.
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| Minimum age for marriage |
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219. The age of marriage is 18. According to article 5 of Ordinance No. 62-089 of 1 October 1962, on marriage, "Minor, within the meaning of the present text, means a child below the age of 18."
223. Nevertheless, in accordance with articles 101 et seq. of Act No. 63-022 of 20 November 1963 on filiation, adoption, rejection and guardianship, minors acquire full legal capacity on marriage.
234. One question that has been asked is how married children under 18 years of age are considered with respect to the age of majority, given the fact that boys may marry at 17 and girls at 14, or even earlier, provided that there are serious grounds and on dispensation from the president of the court situated in the place where the ceremony is to be held (Ordinance on marriage, art. 3).
235. Are such "children" protected under the Convention? The answer can be found in article 107 of the Act of 20 November 1963, which provides that full legal capacity (that is, majority) shall be granted to any minor on marriage. Under article 1 of the Convention, "a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".
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| Minimum age for criminal responsibility |
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220. According to article 4 of Ordinance No. 62-038 of 13 September 1962, on the protection of children, "The age of criminal liability is 18 [and] proof of minority shall be provided either through a court ruling on the date of birth or by physical examination, which may take the place of a birth certificate or a court ruling."
246. Juvenile offenders have additional legal protection under Ordinance No. 62-038 of 19 September 1962. According to articles 35 et seq. of this Ordinance:
o Minors under 13 years of age are exempt from all criminal liability and no criminal sentence may be passed on them (art. 35);
o In respect of a minor between 13 and 16 years of age, the juvenile court or the juvenile criminal court shall consider the question of criminal liability;
o If the minor is held to be criminally responsible, age shall automatically be an extenuating circumstance and the sentence passed on the child may not exceed half the penalty that would have been incurred had he or she attained the age of majority;
o If, on the other hand, the child is not held liable, the juvenile court or the juvenile criminal court shall order educational measures or the return of the child to his or her family (art. 36);
o In respect of a minor between 16 and 18 years of age, the provisions of article 36 shall apply; the juvenile court shall, however, have the authority to disregard age as an extenuating circumstance, in a special substantiated ruling.
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