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National law and policies on minimum ages – Turkey

 

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/51/Add.4, 8 August 2000
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
105. The Turkish Law on Primary Education repeats the constitutional provision to the effect that primary education is compulsory and free for all citizens and declares the 6–14 age bracket as the compulsory primary education period.
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
108. Under article 67 of the Labour Law, it is forbidden to employ children under 15 years of age, with the exception that employment in light work may be permitted to 13-year-old children if it will not adversely affect their health, school education or vocational training. On the other hand, 12 was set to be the lower age limit for working in article 173 of the General Law on Hygiene. Efforts are under way to deal with such discrepancies.
109. Similarly, according to article 59 (1) of the National Basic Education Law, children of primary school age but not attending an educational institution may not be employed with or without pay in any public or private enterprise or in any other institution. However, article 59(2) permits the employment of children attending a primary school, provided that the attendance is proven by documentary evidence and that the employment is outside of school hours.
527. According to the Labour Law (No. 1475), the minimum age for employment is defined as 15 as a rule and as 13 for exceptional light work. However, due to the fact that this provision is void in places where three people or more are employed, the minimum working age is 12, as specified in article 173 (1) of the Common Hygiene Law No. 1593.
 
Minimum age for marriage
87. The Civil Code lays down the minimum age for getting married as 18. However, with the consent of the parents, this limit can be 17 years of age for males and 15 years of age for females. Irrespective of these limits, the judge may permit the marriage of a 15-year-old male with a 14-year-old female for important reasons and under exceptional circumstances under article 88 of the Code.
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
165. Under the Turkish Penal Code, the age of transition to full penal liability is 18. Nevertheless, according to the Law on Juvenile Courts, the minimum age to stand before these courts is 15 years.
480. Article 11 of the Law on the Establishment, Duties and Procedures of Juvenile Courts states that No investigation can be made about and no sentence can be given to those who are younger than 11 years old at the time the crime is committed. However, if the crime requires an imprisonment sentence of more than one year or a heavier sentence, one of the measures specified in article 10 is applied. If sufficient measures will be taken by parents or persons liable for taking care of the child who is younger than 11 years old, other measures may not be applied by the court. Article 12 states that If the investigation carried out in accordance with article 20 on a child who has completed the aged of 11 but has not completed the age of 15 when the criminal act is committed does not require a sentence, one of the measures specified in article 10 may be applied by the court.
 
Source: Initial report: CRC/C/51/Add.4, 8 August 2000