ALGERIA: Briefing on Child Rights in 3rd and 4th State Party Report to the African Commission

Summary: States Parties to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights must submit reports about their progress in implementing the Charter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights every two years. The reports are considered by the Commission in public sessions, following which it issues recommendations to the reporting State which are called ‘Concluding Observations’.

These are the child rights provisions in Algerian law, as outlined in their third and fourth periodic reports to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

• Article 4: The right to life, and physical and moral integrity - Under Algerian law, capital punishment is not applicable to minors aged 13 – 18. Article 50 of the Criminal Code provides that “should it be decided that a minor aged between 13 to 18 years must be given a criminal sentence, the penalties shall be handed down as follows: if the penalty is death or life imprisonment, he shall be sentenced to 10 to 20 years imprisonment.”

• Article 6: The right to security of the individual and prohibition of arbitrary arrest or Detention - Article 456 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that “an offender who is not over 13 years of age may not, even temporarily, be held in a penal institution. An offender aged 13 to 18 may not be held temporarily in a penal institution unless the measure appears to be absolutely necessary or no other arrangements can be made. In such a case, the minor shall be held in special quarters or, alternatively, in an area where he will as much as possible be in isolation at night”.

• Article 9: The Right to information and Freedom of Expression – Executive decree no 91-101 of 20 April 1991 establishing the terms of reference for radio and television broadcasting specifies that radio and television broadcasters must produce and offer educational programmes for children and adolescents with the help of an advisory educational structure (art.5).

• Article 17 : the right to education and the right of individuals to take part in the cultural life of the community - Algeria guarantees the right to education to all its citizens, without any distinction on the basis of race, colour, sex or any other criteria. This right is indeed enshrined in the fundamental texts of the Republic, particularly the Constitution in its article 53, as well as order n° 76/35 of 16 April 1976 on education and training which, in articles 4 to 7 mentions equal access to education, mandatory enrolment of children aged 6 to 16 and equal conditions of access to free education.

The decree on mandatory basic education even contains coercive measures against parents or guardians who fail to comply. One of the major concerns of the public authorities is to provide every young Algerian with mandatory basic education for a period of 9 years. This education, provided in basic educational institutions, “provides the same opportunities for all boys and girls aged 6 right from the start”. In this respect, education has always been mandatory and free of charge in Algeria.

The concentration of the population in the more prosperous northern part of the country is such that the distribution of pupils is unequal. The situation is similar with respect to teachers, who are more numerous in certain areas and lacking in others. The school mapping exercise is aimed at remedying the unequal distribution of the student and teacher populations.

With regard to the school feeding programme, in 1997 - 1998, there were 4,142 school canteens for 561 311 children and in 2003 – 2004, there were 1,600,000 beneficiaries. At the beginning of the 2005 / 2006 academic year, some 2,000,000 students were provided with school meals.

As for boarding schools, they number 27, with 3,000 girls and boys aged 6 to 12 at the primary level, 23,350 in middle school and 53,048 in secondary school. These boarding schools were established for the benefit of children living in the remotest areas, especially girls, to prevent high drop-out rates, as well as for the children of nomads in the Sahara regions and orphans who have not found foster homes. All the operating costs of the boarding schools are borne by the state authorities. Further, there is a school transport system covering a large number of towns and villages, especially the remotest. This system, initiated by the public authorities, benefits 884 communes which have 1,300 buses.

• Article 18: The right of the family, women and the elderly or disabled to special protective measures - The family enjoys the protection of the state and the society. Article 65 of the Constitution specifies that “the law sanctions the duty of parents to ensure the education and protection of their children”. Child custody issues arising in the case of separation of spouses are addressed in articles 62 to 72 of the Family Code. Articles 74 to 80 deal with maintenance and alimony. Any fault or negligence committed by parents with respect to their duty to protect their children is addressed by the Criminal Code in its articles 330 to 332 on family neglect.

The Family Code stipulates in its article 4 that “[the purpose of] marriage…is to start a family based on affection, indulgence and mutual assistance, … to protect children and ensure their proper education» (art. 4 and 36 of the Family Code). It is therefore natural for children to live with their parents, except when the primary interest of the child requires or justifies separation. No child may be separated from its family or parents except by judicial decision. Article one of order no 72-03 of 10 February 1972 regarding the protection of the child and adolescent provides that “minors aged 21 whose health, security, morality or education are compromised or whose living conditions or behaviour are likely to affect their future may be the subject of protective measures and educational assistance“
- only the children’s judge is authorized to take measures to protect and assist
children under this law (art. 2 et 3);
- provisional child custody measures may be taken by the children’s judge (art. 5 and 6). These measures may, at any time, be modified or revoked at the request of the minor, the parents, or the Public Prosecutor.
- At the end of his investigation, the judge shall call the minor and his parents or
guardian before him as well as any other person it may be useful to hear“ (art. 9). “He shall try to bring the minor’s family to support the measure envisaged“.

The children’s judge shall take his decision in chambers; 26 - “When the minor is entrusted, temporarily or permanently, to a third party or one of the institutions herein mentioned in article 11, the parents who have a maintenance obligation toward him are expected to provide such maintenance unless they can prove that they are too poor to do so“ (art. 15).

Special mention should be made of article 65 which states that: “The law sanctions the duty of parents to ensure the education and protection of their children, as well as the duty of children to provide help and support to their parents“.

Children put up for kafala (adoption) enjoy the same benefits as legitimate children.

This system is complemented by family allowances to salaried workers with children, financed by the state, mutual benefit societies and company benefit schemes.

Further information:

• African Charter on Human and People's Rights
• African Commission on Human and People's Rights