CONGO: National Laws

Summary: General overview of Congo'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
The Preamble of the Congolese Constitution declares that the fundamental principles of all ratified international human rights treaties form an integral part of the Constitution.  However, it does not appear that the CRC has been directly incorporated into national law, or that it could be or has been enforced directly in national courts.

Constitution: Title II of the Constitution contains a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, but also a small number of provisions that specifically address children:

• Art. 31: provides that the State is obligated to assist the family in protecting the moral development of children and guarantees the rights of the mother and child.
• Art. 32: provides that marriage and the family are protected by the law, and that all children have the same rights with respect to their parents regardless of whether they were born within or outside of wedlock.
• Art. 33: provides that all children are entitled to the protections of the family, society and the State without discrimination
• Art. 34: requires the State to protect children and adolescents against economic or social exploitation and prohibits the employment of children under sixteen.

Legislation: Congo does not have a consolidated or comprehensive Children's Act; rather, there are a number of Codes and Acts of particular relevance to the rights of children. Relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to:

• Act No. 4/2010 of 14 June 2010, on the protection of the child
• Act No. 18/60 of 16 January, on moral protection of Congolese youth
• Act No. 35/61 of 20 June 1961, the Congolese Nationality Code
• Act No. 1/63 of 13 January 1963, the Code of Criminal Procedure
• Act No. 45/75 of 15 March 1975, the Labour Code (amended 1996)
• Act No. 73/84 of 17 October 1984, the Family Code
• Act. No. 15/66 of 22 June 1966, on the protection of minor schoolchildren (amended 1996)
• Decree of 15 January 1910, on the Criminal Code in French Equatorial Africa
• Decree no. 60/95 of 3 March 1960, regulating admission of minors aged under 16 to dance halls and places selling alcoholic beverages

Legal Research
The World Law Guide provides access to a selection of national legislation in French (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwecon.htm) as does the International Labour Organisation's NATLEX database (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=COG). The Constitution of 2002 is available in French through the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=193697). In addition, the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/congo.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/cg/) provide a selection of links to legal and governmental resources.

Case Law
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.

Case Law Research
Case law from the national courts of Congo does not appear to be readily available online; please contact CRIN if you are aware of online legal resources that provide access to the judgements of national courts.

Compliance with the CRC
In its 2006 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed proposed legal reforms aimed at establishing a Child Protection Code and a review of national laws with a view to harmonising legislation with the CRC. However, the Committee also noted that information on the status of the revision of domestic legislation was insufficient and highlighted a number of areas of national law that fell short of the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In depth analysis
A theme that emerged from the 2006 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child was an absence of legislation in a number of important areas with respect to children's rights. The Committee raised particular concern over the absence of legislation on the trafficking of persons, regulating children's access to pornographic or violent films, and the lack of legislation prohibiting harmful practices such as female genital mutilation. Accordingly, the Committee urged the State to take legislative action to fill these gaps in national law.

With respect to administration of justice, the Committee expressed concern at the absence of a specialised juvenile justice system, that children were often detained with adults and that conditions in detention were not of a suitable standard for children. The Committee also raised concern over allegations that children in military and police detention had been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including rape. In addressing these concerns, the Committee recommended that the State take a range of measures, including establishing a child-sensitive complaints mechanism to investigate allegations of mistreatment of children, ensuring that deprivation of liberty is only used as a measure of last resort, providing children with access to educational and reintegration services if detention is required.

The State's legislation with regard to non-discrimination was also criticised in the Concluding Observations, in particular the limited ambit of relevant legislation. The Committee urged the State to extend its Constitutional prohibition on discrimination, especially discrimination on the grounds of birth or disability.

Current legal reform projects
A draft code on the protection of children was submitted to the national parliament in 2008, though it had not yet been enacted as of May 2012.