School-leaving age

103. The right to education is defined in article 51 of the Constitution: ‘‘Everybody has a right to education. This

right is guaranteed by the extensive and free system of schools, part-time  boarding schools, boarding schools and scholarships in all types and at all levels of education, by the free provision of school materials to every child and young person regardless of the economic situation of the family, and by the provision of courses suited to the

student's aptitudes, the requirements of society and the needs of economic and social development.’’

153. Cuba's free system of general education, which is compulsory at the basic level, constitutes in practice  a powerful obstacle to child labour […]

Minimum age of employment

31. The labour legislation sets the minimum working  age at 17 years […]

154. In accordance with the international regulations to which Cuba subscribes, the Labour Code establishes17

years as the age at which young people acquire the capacity to conclude work contracts (in exceptional   cases children aged 15 and 16 may do so). The Code has a specific chapter on child labour which establishes the

requirement of a medical examination  before recruitment   and the right of young people to initial preparation or training for the job, as well as the requirement that they must be placed in jobs suited to their physical and

mental development, with prohibitions on specific  activities  such as work as stevedores and work underground or

high above ground, at night, in mining, or in places where harmful, reactive or toxic substances are used, or in any type of work in which they are responsible for their own safety or the safety of others.

155. Children  aged at least 14 years may conclude work contracts with the labour bodies under special conditions of apprenticeship, subject to prior authorization by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, to perform work suited to their physical and mental development and in conditions which do not interfere with their education.

Minimum age for marriage

Information  unavailable

Minimum age for criminal responsibility

30. Cuba's criminal legislation stipulates that only persons aged over 16 years may be prosecuted and it provides different treatment for offenders aged between 18 and 20 years. […]

responsibility

Information unavailable

From: CRC/C/8/Add. 30, 14 February 1996