CRINmail 1474
In this issue:
View this CRINmail online.
AGE IS ARBITRARY: Discussion paper on setting minimum ages
When do minimum ages protect or limit children’s rights? What is meant by capacity and free and informed consent? How can greater rights recognition rather than age thresholds better protect children from abuse? And why on earth is children’s access to justice limited simply because of their age? These are some of the questions CRIN addresses in its new discussion paper, Age is Arbitrary: setting minimum ages, which examines a number of contentious children’s rights issues using general principles and rights-based criteria, exposing how minimum ages can be inconsistent, discriminatory and arbitrary.
Why minimum ages?
Children have to keep track of and obey an array of different minimum age laws as they develop, ranging from the age at which they can marry or vote to whether or not they are criminalised by the justice system.
These ages, often prohibiting activities adults take for granted, vary from country to country and sometimes across and within particular jurisdictions.
But simple age-based restrictions are not always the best approach. They rest on two assumptions made by adults: first, that children lack the capacity to take responsibility for decisions about their lives and must therefore be protected. And second, that age limits are the best way to achieve that protection – even though childhood encompasses a wide range of skills and competencies. These assumptions not only ignore children’s individual circumstances; in some cases they may in fact reduce a child’s protection.
These requirements are therefore often senseless: for instance, what possible justification is there for setting any age threshold for children’s right to lodge a complaint, or seek advice, without parental consent?
Minimum ages are also often inconsistent: children may be able to join the army, but not enjoy the right to vote.
And they are often discriminatory, for example, establishing different ages of sexual consent according to gender or sexuality, or applying the law inconsistently, for instance with a racial or gender bias.
This is why CRIN is launching a paper to encourage a new debate on setting minimum ages. This draws out some general principles and criteria to ensure consistent and adequate respect for children’s rights in setting such ages.
A new approach
Fundamentally, CRIN believes that there are two justifications for setting minimum ages for specific purposes within the span of childhood:
-
To provide children with a demonstrated need for protection from significant harm (e.g. from exposure to the criminal justice system).
-
To provide a benchmark for presumed capacity, because without a minimum age the onus is always on the individual child to prove capacity. In some cases a system for determining capacity may be appropriate (e.g. for consent to medical treatment), but setting a minimum age in addition ensures that after that age children acquire an absolute right.
This paper sets out CRIN's general approach to minimum ages in relation to some of the more contentious subjects in children's rights, but the principles can be applied to other areas of children’s lives. We have developed some criteria to put these into practice.
Criteria for setting minimum ages
Is a minimum age needed? Think about:
-
The purpose (would a minimum age protect children or ensure their recognition as rights holders?)
-
What other ways exist to achieve that purpose without resorting to age thresholds?
-
What is the level of risk associated with the activity at hand?
-
If protection is the objective, how effective is an age limit in achieving that protection?
-
What is the potential for abuse of power by parents or others of not having an age threshold? (E.g. not having a minimum age for the end of compulsory learning could mean parents choose not to send their child to school and use them instead to help with chores.)
-
Is a capacity assessment an option? If so, how and by whom could such an assessment be administered?
-
What are the adverse consequences of not having a minimum age?
If yes:
-
Is it in line with all other rights in the Convention?
-
What age is most likely to achieve the purpose?
-
Is this age in the child’s best interests?
-
Is the minimum age consistent with other laws and policies (or are these wrong)?
-
How can a minimum age affect decision-making?
-
Does this age discriminate against children on the basis of age?
-
Will this age affect certain groups of children more than others?
Join the debate
We want this paper to trigger debate, guard against arbitrary divisions within the span of childhood, and to promote an ideal rather than pragmatic vision of how to balance children’s protection and autonomy.
We do not claim to have all the answers and recognise the complexities involved in determining issues of capacity, but believe a serious debate considering general principles and research about what works is the best starting point.
Email [email protected] to join this debate.
We welcome:
Follow the links below for additional resources:
Back to top
NEWS IN BRIEF
Refugee law
Violence
Detention
Equal opportunities
Freedom of religion
Discrimination
Abduction, exploitation & work
Reproductive rights
Back to top
UPCOMING EVENTS
Americas: 157th session of the IACHR
Organisation: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Dates: 2-15 April 2016
Location: Washington DC, United States
Street children: Call for submissions on CRC General Comment on Children in Street Situations
Organisation: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Submission deadline: 12 April 2016
Location: N/A
Summer school: Critical interdisciplinary course on children’s rights
Organisation: Various
Application deadline: 15 April 2016 (for scholarship applicants)
Dates: 28 August - 9 September 2016
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Disability: 32nd Pacific Rim international conference on disability and diversity
Organisation: Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Event date: 25-26 April 2016
Location: Honolulu, United States
Child rights: Online foundation course on children's rights
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Event date: 27 April - 7 June 2016
Location: Online
Child rights: Online course on child safeguarding
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Event date: 27 April - 7 June 2016
Location: Online
Call for submissions: 8th Child in the City conference
Organisation: Child in the City
Submission deadline: 29 April 2016
Event date: 7-9 November 2016
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Alternative care: International alternative care conference
Organisation: University of Geneva and Institut de droits l’enfant
Deadline for travel subsidies & poster applications: 1 May 2016
Event dates: 3-5 October 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Business: Call for papers for int'l conference on business & human rights
Organisation: Various
Submission deadline: 5 May 2016
Event date: 20-21 October 2016
Location: Seville, Spain
Child rights: Geneva summer school on children's rights
Organisation: University of Geneva
Application deadline: 1 May 2016
Course dates: 6-17 June 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Europe: Exploring a multidisciplinary approach to child-friendly justice in European law
Organisation: Academy of European Law
Date: 5-6 May 2016
Location: Krakow, Poland
Statelessness: StatelessKids Youth Congress
Organisation: European Network on Statelessness
Dates: 11-13 July 2016
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Digital rights: Children & young people's rights in the digital age pre-conference
Organisation: Int’l Association for Media & Communication Research
Event date: 26-27 July 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom
Violence: 21st ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)
Dates: 28-31 August 2016
Location: Calgary, Canada
Back to top
EMPLOYMENT
CRIN: Web Manager and IT Support
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: Until filled
CRIN: Middle East and North Africa Intern
Location: Bethlehem, Palestine
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT): Intern (child rights programme)
Location: Geneva Switzerland
Application deadline: 7 April 2016
Council of Europe: Programme Advisor (children’s rights division)
Location: Strasbourg, France
Application deadline: 30 April 2016
Child Soldiers International: Trustees
Location: N/A
Application deadline: 3 May 2016
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia: Representative for Children and Youth
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Application deadline: 6 May 2016
Afghanistan Mother and Child: Trustees
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: N/A
THE LAST WORD
"Minimum ages should, without exception, be consistent with all rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child . This means that in areas where children’s protection is at risk... all children under the age of 18 should be afforded special protection. Where minimum ages are necessary to correct for abuses of power... their enforcement should never run counter to children’s rights. In areas where age restrictions serve no protective purpose and potentially curb children’s development, freedoms, and even protection... minimum ages should be avoided. Finally, where tensions are present between children’s protection and autonomy... children’s capacity should be the deciding factor and should not be judged generally, but in relation to the issue at hand."
-- CRIN, in the discussion paper Age is Arbitrary: setting minimum ages
Back to top
| 
