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National law and policies on minimum ages – Algeria

 

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/93/Add.7, 3 March 2005
Initial report: CRC/C/28/Add. 4, 23 February 1996
 
Minimum age for the end of compulsory education
From 2nd report
94. (c) As regards education, article 5 of the Ordinance of 16 April 1976 lays down that “education is compulsory for children aged between 6 and 16 years” […]
From initial report
104. Article 4 of the Ordinance of 16 April 1976 on the right to education stipulates that “every Algerian citizen has the right to education and training. This right is ensured by the general provision of basic education”. Article 5 states that “education is compulsory for all children aged between 6 and 16 years”. Article 7 lays down that “education is free of charge at all levels, regardless of the type of establishment attended”.
 
Minimum age for admission to employment
From 2nd report
94. (e) Ordinance No. 75-31 of 29 April 1975, relating to general labour conditions, stipulates that the minimum age for admission to employment is 16 years (art. 180). Article 182 prohibits the employment of young people under the age of 16 years except where an exemption is granted by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in the case of certain fixed-term temporary jobs […]
From initial report
7e) Ordinance No. 75-31 of 29 April 1975, relating to “general labour conditions”, stipulates that the minimum age for work is 16 years (article 180). Article 182 prohibits the employment of young people under the age of 16 years except where an exemption is granted by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in the case of certain fixed-term temporary jobs;
156. Article 15 of act No. 90-11 of 21 April 1990 on employment relations stipulates, in particular, that “the minimum age for recruitment may in no case be less than 16 years, except by virtue of apprenticeship contracts established in accordance with current legislation and regulations. A minor worker may be recruited only on presentation of an authorization issued by his legal guardian. The minor may not be employed in dangerous, unhealthy or harmful work or work that may jeopardize his morality.”
 
Minimum age for marriage
From 2nd report
94. (g) Act No. 84-11 of 9 June 1984 establishing the Family Code stipulates in article 7 that the marriageable age is 21 years for men and 18 years for women […]
From initial report
7g) Act No. 84-11 of 9 June 1984 establishing the Family Code stipulates, in article 7, that the marriageable age is 21 years for men and 18 years for women;
 
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
From 2nd report
332. Article 49 of the Criminal Code states that: “Only protective or re-education measures may be applied to a minor aged under 13”, and that “no criminal proceedings may be taken against a child aged under 13”.
From initial report
9. Article 456 lays down that an offender who has not reached the age of 13 years may not, even temporarily, be placed in a prison establishment. Similarly, an offender aged between 13 and 18 years may be placed in a prison establishment only if a provisional measure to that effect seems indispensable or if it is impossible to make any other arrangement. In that case, the minor shall be kept in a special section or, failing this, in a special area. As far as possible, the minor shall be isolated at night.
124. Article 442 sets the age of majority in criminal proceedings at 18 years. Article 443 stipulates that the age to be used in determining criminal majority is the age of the offender on the date of the offence.
 
Sources:
2nd periodic report: CRC/C/93/Add.7, 3 March 2005
Initial report: CRC/C/28/Add. 4, 23 February 1996