KYRGYZSTAN: National Laws

Summary: General overview of Kyrgyzstan'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 6 of the Kyrgyz Constitution provides that international treaties that have entered into force, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are a part of the national legal system and have "direct action". Article 40 of the Constitution also guarantees judicial protection of rights under international treaties, although the CRC does not appear to have been referenced or invoked before national courts.

Constitution: Section II of the Kyrgyz Constitution contains a substantial number of rights provisions that apply to children as to any other person, but also a number that specifically address the rights of children:

• Art. 16(5): provides that the principle of ensuring the best interests of the child shall be effective in the Kyrgyz Republic
• Art. 20(4): provides that the prohibition on the exploitation of child labour cannot be subject to limitations
• Art. 23(2): prohibits the exploitation of child labour
• Art. 36(1): asserts that the family is the foundation of society, and requires preferential legal protection for the family, paternity, maternity and childhood
• Art. 36(2): establishes a right for children to a standard of life necessary for their spiritual, moral and social development
• Art. 36(3): provides that the responsibility for ensuring the living conditions necessary for the development of the child shall be the responsibility of each of the child's parents or any other person rearing the child within their capacity and financial capabilities
• Art. 36(4): requires the State to ensure the maintenance, upbringing and education of child orphans and children deprived of parental care

Legislation: Kyrgyzstan has a Children's Code and an Act on the protection of minors' rights, both of which contain much of the relevant law in relation to children's rights. There are, however, a number of legislative acts and decrees which contain provisions of particular importance for children including, but by no means limited to:

• The Children's Code 2006
• The Minors Rights (Protection and Defence) Act (No. 126 of 22 November 1999)
• The Criminal Code
• The Code of Criminal Procedure
• The Education Act (No. 92 of 30 April 2003)
• The National Health Act (2 July1992)
• Presidential Decree “on measures to combat the illicit human smuggling and trafficking in the Kyrgyz Republic” (No. 94 of 21 April 2002)

Legal Research:
The Kyrgyz Supreme Council (Jogorku Kenesh) maintains an official website in Kyrgyz and Russian that offers the text of some bills under consideration (http://www.kenesh.kg/); similarly, the Government's official website publishes recent legislation in Kyrgyz and Russian (http://www.gov.kg/?cat=8). The International Labour Organisation's NATLEX database provides links to Kyrgyz legislation in Russian and English (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=KGZ), and the World Law Guide provides access to national legislation in English (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwekyr.htm). The Constitution is available in English and Russian through the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=10576). In addition, the GlobaLex project at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Kyrgyzstan (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Kyrgyz1.htm), and the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/kyrgyzstan.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www3.worldlii.org/catalog/2760.html) both provide links to a range of 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 Kyrgyz judicial system maintains an official website in Kyrgyz and Russian (http://www.sudsystem.kg/index.php), with limited information available in English (http://www.sudsystem.kg/en/index.php). However,  case law from national courts in Kyrgyzstan does not appear to be readily available online.

Compliance with the CRC
In its 2000 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that the State's laws fell short of the Convention in a large number of areas, including in relation to the definition of the child, child labour, asylum-seeking children and juvenile justice.

In depth analysis
The Committee on the Rights of the Child raised concerns about the pervasive incompatibilities of national laws on juvenile justice with the provisions of the CRC. Of particular concern was the absence of a separate justice system for children.  There were no facilities to detain children separately from adults; the use of sentences for children were often disproportionate to the seriousness of the offence;conditions in detention were poor and provided inadequate educational, recreational and vocational activities; and children had limited access to legal aid, often being questioned without the presence of a lawyer and without their parents being notified. Accordingly, the Committee recommended taking a broad range of measures, including instituting legislative reforms, to harmonise national law and juvenile justice practices with the standards set by the Convention.

The Committee also raised concerns in relation to a number of aspects of the State's laws on refugee and asylum-seeking children. In particular, the State's requirement that refugee status claims be submitted within three days of entering the country could arbitrarily deny refugee children the protection to which they are entitled under the Convention. Similarly, the State's practice of issuing documentation solely to the head of the household could serve to create problems for undocumented children when encountering militia who harass and subject persons without legal status to fines and detention.

With regards to the principle of non-discrimination, the Committee raised concerns that the State's social security laws acted to deprive non-citizens of the right to social benefits, including subjecting them to higher fees for access to health services. The Committee also noted that the system of residence registration could serve to restrict the rights of children of refugee or migrant backgrounds from accessing health care and other social services more broadly.

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