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National law and policies on minimum ages – Burundi

 

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.

 

Source: Initial report: CRC/C/3/Add.58, 31 July 1998
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
50. Compulsory education begins at the age of 7 and lasts for a period of six years. Theoretically, therefore, compulsory education applies to children aged between 7 and 12.
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
51. In keeping with the Convention on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, which defines the minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15, the minimum age for admission to employment or work is set at 16 years under article 3 of the Burundi Labour Code. Derogations may be obtained, provided that the child in question is at least 12 years old. Article 126 of the Burundi Labour Code contains an exceptional clause authorizing the employment of children under16 years of age on light and healthy work or in a programme of apprenticeship, providing that such work is not harmful to them.
 
Minimum age for marriage
44. There are some, slight, differences between civil law, which establishes the age of majority at 21 years, and matrimonial law. A man under 21 years of age may not conclude marriage with a woman aged below 18. However, the governor of the province may agree to waive the age restrictions, where sufficiently serious reasons so warrant. A man and a woman who have not attained their majority may not contract marriage without the consent of their parents. If the mother or father is deceased, or either of them is absent or subject to an order of local banishment, the consent of the other parent shall be deemed sufficient. If the child is the sole surviving member of the family, the Family Council may, upon deliberation, give the necessary consent. In November 1990, Burundi ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which establishes the minimum age for marriage at 18 years for both boys and girls (par. 2, article 21).
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
46. The minimum age of criminal liability is 13 years (art. 12 to 19 of the Criminal Code). While legal minority constitutes sufficient grounds for exoneration from criminal liability, the same does not apply to civil reparations. Offences committed by minors under 13 years of age are liable for civil reparations only. Minors aged between 13 and 18 are criminally liable for offences committed, although they benefit from consideration of attenuating circumstances. […] Full criminal liability begins at the age of 18.
 
Source: Initial report: CRC/C/3/Add.58, 31 July 1998