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Summary: General overview of Cameroon's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law Constitution- The Constitution makes only one specific mention of the rights of children. The preamble provides that the State shall guarantee the child's right to education, and that primary education shall be compulsory. Legislation- The variation in laws across Cameroon aside (see below), it is possible to identify a number of important legislative codes and acts that have implemented the rights and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code cover crimes committed by and against children, while the Labour code contains all major provisions in relation to the employment of children. Other relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to: Act No.. 2005/015 of 29 Dec. 2005 on combating child trafficking Act No. 2005/006 of 27 Jul. 2005 concerning the status of refugees Act No. 97/009 of 10 Jan. 1997 on combating torture Act No. 84/04 of 4 Jul. 1983 on conditions for the adoption and guardianship of orphans Act No. 98/004 of 14 Apr. 1998 on educational guidance Act No. 83/013 of 21 Jul. 1983 on the protection of disabled persons Decree No. 2004/320 on the organisation of government (creating several ministerial departments responsible for the rights of children) Decree No. 2001/041 of 19 Feb. 2001 on the organisation of schools Decree No. 2001/109/PM of 20 Mar. 2001 on the organisation and functioning of public institutions for the care of children and the rehabilitation of socially maladjusted minors Decree No. 2001/110/PM of 20 Mar. 2001 on the organisation and functioning of public institutions for the care of infants Notes on the legal system- Cameroon has an unusual legal system, drawn from both the French Civil law and the English common law traditions. The state is made up of ten regions, and can pass laws that cover the entire territory. However, the eight French speaking regions operate under codes very similar to the those of the French legal system, while in the remaining two regions English common law remains influential. This feature of Cameroonian law can lead to significant variation between the regions. Even where the text of a law may be the same across the country, the strong role of precedent in the anglophone regions, as opposed to the weaker role in the francophone regions, can lead to inconsistencies. Customary law is retained in some areas and for some groups of people, while sharia law remains in some of the rural areas of the northern regions. Legal Research Case law Case Law Research In depth analysis: Although the Commission was welcoming of the draft codes on Child Protection and on Persons and the Family, noting that they would set ages for marriage and the definition of children that would be compatible with the Convention, in its 2010 concluding observations, the CRC noted that until the drafts become law, the difference between the legal age of marriage for boys (18 years) and girls (15 years) remains discriminatory. Similarly, the absence of legislation addressing the discrimination against indigenous children was a cause for concern for the Committee. Regarding violence towards children, the occurrence of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment against children, and the absence of schemes for compensation for such treatment, was a significant cause of concern for the Committee. The absence of a specific legal prohibition on female genital mutilation and the legality of corporal punishment in the home were also raised in the Committees recommendations for reforms. Current legal reform projects
Article 45 of the Constitution of Cameroon provides that “duly approved and ratified treaties and international agreements shall, following publication, take precedence over national laws”. The primary means used by the state to implement the rights and principles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, seems to be through domestic legislation, and the extent to which the provisions of the Convention may be cited in legal proceedings is not entirely clear.
Cameroon's National Assembly (Assemblé Nationale) maintains a website both in English and in French (http://www.assemblenationale.cm/), and the website of the Office of the Prime Minister also provides texts of laws, statutory instruments and a variety of other useful resources (http://www.spm.gov.cm/en/documentation/laws-and-statutory-instruments.html). In addition, the GlobaLex initiative at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Cameroon (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Cameroon1.htm), and the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/cameroon.php) and World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/2685.html) have compiled a selection of relevant links. An electronic version of the Constitution can be found in French through the National Assembly website (http://www.assemblenationale.cm/images/stories/DOCUMENTS_PDF/constitution.pdf) or in English through the website of the Cameroon Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (http://www.picam.org/cameroon-laws/Cameroon%20Constitution%20of%201996.pdf).
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Supreme Court of Cameroon (Cour Suprême de Cameroun) maintains an website (http://www.coursupreme.cm/index.php?csc=allocution10), but case law from this and other courts is not officially reported and hence not widely available in either English or in French.
Compliance with the CRC
The Committee welcomed the revision of several laws and regulations to better protect and promote the rights of children, in particular the draft Code on Child Protection and draft Code on Persons and Family. However, the Committee also regretted “the slow pace with which these draft Codes are adopted and enter into force”, and further remained “concerned over the insufficient implementation of the many laws adopted relevant to children's rights.”
The Committee has welcomed a number of legislative initiatives in its latest comments on the status of children's rights in Cameroon, in particular highlighting the legal reform in the area of child trafficking and the treatment of refugees. The broad area of juvenile justice,however, was considered to fall short of compliance with the CRC at the time of the state's most recent report. Specifically, the low age of criminal responsibility (10 years) as well as the use of pre-trial detention were not considered to meet the state's commitments under the Convention.
As of October 2009, Cameroon reported that a number of reform projects were under way, including ongoing discussions on the draft Code on Child Protection and draft Code on Persons and Family as discussed above.