Judgment No. CCZ 12/2015 32
Const. Application No. 79/14
The problem of lack of definition of “child” in Article 16(2) of the CEDAW
was solved by the coming into force on 2 September 1990 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC). In Article 1 the CRC provided that:
“For the purposes of the present convention a child means every human being below
the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is
attained earlier.”
The CRC makes provision for the protection of the rights of the child. Article 2
of the CRC prohibits “discrimination” of any form against children including on the basis of
sex. Article 3 provides that “in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child
shall be a primary consideration” and that States Parties must “undertake to ensure the child
such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being”. The CRC also provides that
all children shall have the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence,
injury, abuse, maltreatment or exploitation; the right to health; the right to education; the right
to protection from abduction; sale, or trafficking; the right to rest and leisure; the right to
protection from economic exploitation; and the right to protection from all forms of
exploitation prejudicial to the child’s welfare. In Article 24.3 the CRC provides that States
Parties shall take measures to abolish “traditional practices prejudicial to the health of
children”.
Although the CRC did not specify the age of eighteen as the minimum age for
marriage, in defining “a child”, it provided the CEDAW Committee and the CRC Committee
with the basis for declaring the minimum age of marriage to be eighteen years. This is because
Article 16(2) of the CEDAW provides in express terms that the “marriage of a child shall have
no legal effect”.
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