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National law and policies on minimum ages – Cote d’Ivoire

 

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/8/Add.41, 27 April 2000
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
81. Although the Ivorian Government has long made education for all a priority, it has not established a fixed age for the end of compulsory schooling. As a result, many children find themselves on the streets without having completed primary education. In order to comply with articles 28, 29 and 32 of the Convention, which set forth the right of the child to education and occupational training, Act No. 95-685 of 7 September 1995 on education should be amended to make education compulsory and free for all up to the age of 16 years.
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
84. Côte d’Ivoire regulates the admission of young people to employment. The minimum age fixed by the Labour Code of 1995 (Act No. 95-15 of 12 January 1995) for admission of young people to employment or apprenticeship is 14 years (art. 23-8).
85. Article 31 of the 1970 Minority Act requires the involvement of the child’s parents or legal representative in the concluding of an employment contract, either by signing it on the child’s behalf up to the age of 16 years or by attending as a witness between the ages of 16 and 18 years, after which age the child is completely free to conclude an employment contract alone.
86. In reality the lack of training, the failure to match training to jobs and the persistent economic crisis lead to high unemployment among young people. Some of them resort to the informal sector. Moreover, the abdication of parental responsibility and inadequate action by the public authorities lead to the exploitation of children in the labour sector. Some children under the age of 14 years go to work with or without the parents’ consent. Similarly, article 23-9 of the Labour Code protecting the health and development of the child is being infringed since many children perform arduous and hazardous tasks.
 
Minimum age for marriage
90. […] Personal consent is required for marriage, even from minors (art. 3 of Act No. 64-375 of 7 October 1964 on marriage, as amended by Act No. 83-800 of 2 August 1983). Article 5 of this Act requires the consent of the father and mother or legal representative for a spouse below 21 years of age. […] The minor does not therefore enjoy complete freedom because his or her consent alone is not sufficient. The personal consent of spouses, even if minors, puts an end to forced marriages. However, this phenomenon still persists in violation of the law, with tragic consequences.
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility

93. A minor becomes responsible for criminal acts on reaching 10 years of age (art. 116 of the Penal Code). 

 

Source: Initial report: CRC/C/8/Add.41, 27 April 2000