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National law and policies on minimum ages – Finland

 

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:

3rd periodic report: CRC/C.129/Add.5, 5 January 2005
2nd periodic report: CRC/C/70/Add.3, 18 November 1998
Initial report: RC/C/8/Add.22, 31 January 1995
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
From 3rd report
423. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, everyone has the right to basic education free of charge.
From 2nd report
194. […] Children have a right to receive comprehensive school education free of charge. The comprehensive school education must be arranged so that the child’s age and preparedness for learning are taken into account. Thus, even severely disabled children are taught at comprehensive schools. Children start school in the year they reach the age of seven. Compulsory education continues for 10 years or until the completion of the nine-year-long comprehensive school curriculum. […]
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
From 3rd report
541. […] The Young Workers Act has been amended by an Act (754/1998), and the amended provisions took effect at the beginning of 1999. The most significant amendments are as follows: Children of statutory school age, who have attained 14 years of age or will be 14 years old during the said calendar year, can go to work for half of their school holidays and at the most two thirds of their holidays. The amendment has been made due to the supervision practice of the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe (Treaty Series 44/1991) […] In addition, the provision on emergency work was revised so that a person who has attained 15 years of age can, as provided for in section 21 of the Hours of Work Act (605/1996), be engaged in emergency work only if an 18 year old or older person is not available. If adults are not available at the workplace or there are not enough of them, a 15 year old can be assigned to do emergency work […]
543. A decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on a Non-exhaustive List of Tasks Dangerous for Young Workers (128/2002) took effect at the beginning of March 2002. Hazardous tasks listed in the decree may not be assigned at all to persons who are under 16 years of age. The tasks may be assigned to persons who have attained 16 years of age if adequate precautions have been taken.
From 2nd report
280. Finland has ratified the Convention (No. 138) concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, adopted by the ILO on 26 June 1973. The Convention was brought into force in Finland by a Decree issued on
13 January 1976 (1060/1976; SopS 87/1976). Thus, Finland is committed to comply with the provisions of the Convention.
281. The preparatory work of the Young Employees Act (998/1993) paid attention to the provisions of the Convention concerning the minimum ages for admission to employment and the minimum ages for hazardous and light work. Also, the provisions on the employer's duty to provide health-care services and a list of employees who are under 18 years old are taken into account. In conformity with the provisions of the Convention, the Act defines light work suitable for persons under 14 years of age as work which is not likely to be harmful to their health or development and does not prejudice their attendance at school. The definition of light work was made more precise, as required by the ILO, in a separate decision of the Ministry of Labour providing examples of light work suitable for young persons. Hazardous work was defined in the Protection of Young Employees Decree (506/1986) issued in connection with the Act, and in the Decision of the Ministry of Labour concerning work which is hazardous for young persons (1432/1993).
From initial report
111. The general requirements for gainful employment are a minimum age of 15 and the completion of compulsory education. If a child who is subject to compulsory education attains the age of 14 before the end of the school year, he or she may be employed for two thirds of the school holiday and not more than 12 hours a week during the school terms.
112. Children under 13 may not be gainfully employed under any circumstances; those under 15 may not work for more than seven hours a day. Children between 15 and 17 may work full time, but are subject to restrictions concerning overtime. Children under 16 may not be employed in dangerous work (Decree on the Protection of Young Employees, 229/58, art. 3).
 
Minimum age for marriage
From initial report
115. Both women and men may marry at 18. For those below this minimum age, the Ministry of Justice may grant permission to conclude marriage, if there are special reasons for marriage. Permission does not require the consent of the guardian or the custodian.
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
From 3rd report
521. […] In Finland, the minimum age for criminal liability is 15 years. A child younger than that cannot be arrested or imprisoned, but measures based on child welfare can be applied.
From 2nd report
266. The minimum age for criminal liability is 15, and no child younger than 15 may be arrested or imprisoned. A child who has reached the age of 15 may be arrested and imprisoned on the grounds provided by the law. However, no person may be arrested or imprisoned if this is unreasonable for such reasons as the suspect's age. If an offence was committed by a person between 15 and 20 years of age, he or she is regarded as a young offender to whom a number of special provisions apply.
 
Sources:
3rd periodic report: CRC/C.129/Add.5, 5 January 2005
2nd periodic report: CRC/C/70/Add.3, 18 November 1998

Initial report: CRC/C/8/Add.22, 31 January 1995