DJIBOUTI: National Laws

Summary: General overview of Djibouti'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
Article 37 of the Constitution of Djibouti provides that duly ratified treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, have superior authority to domestic laws. This means that judges should be able to refer to the CRC in reaching decisions in matters relating to children's rights, although it is not clear whether the Convention has ever been cited in a national court.

Constitution: Title II of the Constitution contains provisions on "the rights and duties of the person" but, while these articles apply equally to children and adults, there are none that specifically address the rights of children.

Legislation: The law of Djibouti does not contain a comprehensive Children's Act; rather, legislation relevant to the rights of children is found throughout a number of legislative acts. Relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to:

  • The Family Code
  • The Penal Code
  • The Civil Code
  • The Nationality Code
  • The Labour Code Act of 2006
  • The Outline Act on the Education System of 2000
  • The Law against trafficking in human beings 2007
  • The Law on the protection of persons living with HIV and AIDS 2007
  • The Health Act 1999

Legal Research:
The Constitution is available in French through the website for the Djibouti Agency of Information (http://www.adi.dj/constitut/constitut_dj.htm) and in English through the website of the UNDP (http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/constitutions/dj-constitution-92-e.pdf). The official government website publishes legislation in French (http://www.presidence.dj/). In addition, the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/djibouti.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/dj/) have assembled links to a selection of relevant 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
The court system of Djibouti does not maintain an official website and it does not appear that case law is readly available on the Internet. Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any online resources that provide access to the case law of Djibouti.

Compliance with the CRC
The Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed several legislative reforms in its Concluding Observations of 2008, particularly with regards to the Family Code, the Labour Code and the Nationality Code. However, the Committee noted with regret that the implementation of these laws was hindered by a lack of human and financial resources.

In depth analysis
Juvenile justice is among the areas of national law in Djibouti that is most starkly inconsistent with the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In its 2008 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed particular concern at the lack of a specialised system of courts for children, at the absence of facilities to detain children separately from adults, that children as young as 13 could be detained for long periods, and that the decision to offer alternative sentences to detention was at the discretion of the courts. The Committee recommended that the State address these issues as well as implement legislation to ensure that child witnesses and victims of crime have sufficient procedural protections.

With regards to refugee and asylum-seeking children, the Committee noted the State's limited involvement in the rehabilitation of refugees, and that it had implemented "no systematic measures... to ensure that refugee children have access to healthcare, education and other services". As such, the Committee recommended the formation of comprehensive refugee legislation providing for expedited asylum claims and a child-sensitive asylum procedure.

Though steps have been taken with regards to several harmful practices against children, including early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), the Committee continued to raise issues in this regard. The Family Code sets a minimum age for marriage at 18, but the Committee expressed concern that several exceptions existed by which this age can be lowered, and the exceptions themselves did not provide for a minimum age. The Committee recommended that the State clarify the law with regards to exceptions to the minimum age for marriage so as to legally prohibit early marriage. While FGM is prohibited in law, the Committee noted with concern that the practice remained widespread, and that no prosecutions had been brought under the relevant legislation as of 2008.

Current legal reform projects
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.

Countries

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.