| School-leaving age |
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350. Education is neither universal nor compulsory in the Solomon Islands. The cost of providing education for all children is constrained by geographic, demographic and economic factors. The current policy, therefore, is to simply provide greater opportunity for access at all levels of education and to provide for a steady increase in the provision of education services.
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| Minimum age of employment |
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446. The Labour Act sets out minimum ages for admission to employment in various sectors of the economy: Section 84 of the Labour Act states, "no children under the age of 12 years shall be employed in any capacity whatsoever." Exceptions: children employed by or in the company of their parent or guardian in light work or agricultural/domestic or other forms of employment as may be approved by the Minister. [N.B. Children under 12 are not allowed to work in any capacity in the industrial or commercial sectors.]
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| Minimum age for marriage |
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66. The Islanders' Marriage Act (Cap 47) states that no marriage shall be celebrated unless each of the parties has attained 15 years of age. Also no Islander under the age of 18 (who is not a widow or widower) may be married without written consent of the father or, in his absence, the mother or, in her absence, the guardian. This and other laws have recently been reviewed and are in the process of revision by the Law Reform Commission.
475. Customary law is part of the law of the land as long as it does not violate the principles of humanity ensured by the Constitution. Although there has not yet been a case brought to court, potential does exist for legal conflict to arise between certain customary marriage practices and the constitutional protection of the right to personal liberty afforded to young females as citizens of this country.
476. In certain areas of the country, customary marriage practices may, for example, allow a female child of comparatively young age to be married to a person chosen by her parents, but against her own will. In such cases any potential advocate for the girl's interests might be deterred for several reasons. Persons who might help would not be welcome interfering in family affairs. Such persons may also be uninformed of the child's legal rights under the Constitution. Or an advocate may not be willing to disrupt the highly valued cohesion of the community in such a circumstance. Though such hypothetical situations may or may not be uncommon, a legal case must be presented before the strength of the constitutional protection can be effectively measured.
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| Minimum age for criminal responsibility |
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64. Under the Penal Code, section 14, a person under the age of 8 years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission; therefore no child under the age of 8 years can be guilty of an offence. A child between the age of 8 and 12 years can be found guilty only if it can be proved that the child knows that what is committed is a crime.
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