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National law and policies on minimum ages – Bulgaria

 

According to the CRC, laws and policies must be directed to the best interest of the child. This is especially so in provisions that aim to safeguard the child against exploitation or an early end to childhood, i.e. in the instances where children are most vulnerable and at risk. Yet such safeguards are often ignored and different areas of legislation found to clash with each other. What happens if the age for the end of compulsory education is 14 but the minimum age of employment is 12? Or vice versa? What if a girl can be married before school leaving age - will she then return to school? And who ensures schooling in prisons, when in reality education should protect children from incarceration?

 

 

 

 

With 192 parties to it, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified UN treaty. Each State Party must submit periodic reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which uses this process to monitor State compliance with the treaty. The vast majority of the information on minimum ages presented on these pages is taken directly from such reports (occasionally, if these failed to include relevant information concerning minimum ages, other components of the reporting process - such as the Committee’s Concluding Observations - were consulted). States Parties’ reports constitute self-assessment by governments and are therefore authoritative sources, emanating directly from those empowered to make decisions. Using this type of sources also permits a range of actors to hold governments accountable for the standards which they report under the CRC. The sections of these reports have been reproduced faithfully, and readers are encouraged to make use of the full original text, available here.

 

Individual country reports are often written by diverse parts of the government, and frequently run to more than 100 pages. Moreover, within some states’ legal systems there are various recognised sources of law, which frequently generate conflicting minimum ages. Distilling precise numbers out of such documents is therefore a precarious task. While we would encourage cross-country comparison, we would also stress the danger that those countries with a more honest engagement with the reporting process might come off worse when compared with those which would mis-represent the degree of compliance, whether wilfully or not. For a full explanation of the principles that guided us in our analysis, please visit the introductory pages here.

 

Sources:
2nd periodic report: CRC/C/BGR/2, 1 November 2007
Initial report: CRC/C/8/Add.29, 12 October 1995 
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
From 2nd report
101. In relation to article 28 of CRC, the basic legal acts that regulate this matter, namely the Constitution and the Public Education Act (PEA), provide for the absolute right to education of every child, mandatory education until the age of 16, and free of charge primary and secondary education in State and municipal schools. In accordance with the Public Education Act, school education starts at the age of 7, from the year when the pupil has enrolled in first grade. Children who have turned 6 years of age may also be enrolled in first grade if their physical and mental development, in the judgement of their parents or guardians, so permits.
From initial report
199. School education starts at the age of six or seven at the option of parents and guardians (art. 7, paras. 1 and 2, of the National Education Act). Education in State and municipal schools is free of charge (art. 6 of the National Education Act) and school education is mandatory until the age of 16. 
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
From 2nd report
147. According to the law, the minimum age for admitting a person to work is 16 years of age. With the explicit consent of parents some exceptions may be made for children of 15 years of age. They may perform easy work that does not pose any threat to their psychological or physical health.
From initial report
27. The minimum age at which a child can sign a labour contract independently and without the consent of the parents is 16. In general it is forbidden to hire children under 16, i.e. 16 years of age is the absolute minimum for hiring children. Only as an exception is it permitted to: (a) hire children aged between 15 and 16 but only for easy jobs that are not dangerous to the health and development of the children; (b) to hire in the field of art (circus, film-making, theatre) children under 15 under special conditions established expressly in regulations issued by the Council of Ministers and with the consent of the parents (guardians). The permission of the labour inspectorates is required in each individual   case. A special age for full or partial employment of the child is not provided.
 
 
Minimum age for marriage
From initial report
36. Under the Family Code persons have the right to marry after completing 18 years of age. As an exception and if there are important reasons, persons aged 16 may also enter into marriage with the permission of the court.
From initial report
36. Under the Family Code persons have the right to marry after completing 18 years of age. As an exception and if there are important   reasons, persons aged 16 may also enter into marriage with the permission of the court. […]
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
From 2nd report
135. Pursuant to the Penal Code, the minimum age for criminal liability is 14. Children below that age may not assume criminal liability and only the prevention correctional measures envisaged in article 13 of the Juvenile Delinquency Act may be applied to them. The correctional measures may be: warning; obligation to apologize to the victim; obligation to take part in trainings and other programmes aimed at overcoming behavioural deviations; placement under correctional supervision of parents or persons who replace them, with the obligation to enhance their care of the child in question; prohibition to visit particular places and locations; prohibition to meet or establish contacts with certain persons; prohibition to leave the present place of residence; obligation to repair the damage caused with his own labour, if such is within his capacity; obligation to work for the public benefit; placement in social educational boarding school; warning for placement in social educational boarding school with a probation period of six months; placement in correctional boarding school.
From initial report
29. Under the Penal Code only children over 14 can be held legally responsible and only inasmuch   as they understand the nature and gravity of their offence and in so far as they are able to govern their own actions. The Penal Code contains special provisions for legally responsible adolescents. Special correctional measures are applied to them under the Combating Antisocial Behaviour by Minors and Adolescents Act.
 
Sources:
2nd periodic report: CRC/C/BGR/2, 1 November 2007
Initial report: CRC/C/8/Add.29, 12 October 1995