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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
CCPR/CO/77/LUX
Last reported: 24 March 2003
Concluding Observations issued: 15 April 2003
Issues raised:
Children born out of wedlock: The Committee notes that the Civil Code still draws a distinction between “legitimate” children and children born out of wedlock, whereas, by law, they are entitled to the same rights (article 26 of the Covenant). (Paragraph 9).
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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
E/C.12/1/Add.86
Last reported: 7 May 2003
Concluding Observations issued: 23 May 2003
Issues raised:
Child status: The Committee remains concerned about the terminological distinction between “legitimate” and “natural” children in the Civil Code. While the distinction does not imply a difference in protection of rights, the Committee expresses its concern about the terminology’s pejorative connotations. (Paragraph 23).
The Committee recommends that the reference to “legitimate” and “natural” children in the Civil Code be replaced by “children born in wedlock” and “children born out of wedlock”, respectively.
Drug abuse: The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to prevent and combat drug abuse, especially among young people, and step up its campaign against alcohol and tobacco abuse. (Paragraph 38).
The Committee reiterates its concern about adolescent health problems, owing in particular to drug abuse and high rates of alcohol and tobacco consumption.
Education: The Committee requests the State party to provide in its next report information on the implementation of the pilot project on early childhood education currently carried out in a number of communes with a view to providing an opportunity for working parents to reconcile professional and family responsibilities. (Paragraph 41).
Human rights education: The Committee encourages the State party to provide human rights education in schools at all levels and to raise awareness about human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights, among State officials and the judiciary. (Paragraph 44).
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
CERD/C/LUX/CO/14-17
Last reported: 29 May 2013
Concluding Observations: 21 February 2014
No children's rights issues raised. The following positive aspects related to children's rights were welcomed by the Committee:
The Committee welcomes the law on nationality, dated 23 October 2008, which allows to keep one’s original nationality upon acquisition of Luxembourger nationality. The law furthermore allows children born in the Grand Duchy of foreign parents, one of which was himself born in the Grand Duchy, to obtain Luxembourger nationality.
Since the last periodical report, Luxembourg has ratified, on 2 September 2011, the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. (Paragraph 4)
CERD/C/LUX/CO/13
Last reported: 23 / 24 February 2005
Concluding Observations: 18 April 2005
No children's rights issues raised.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
CEDAW/C/LUX/CO/5
Last reported: 23 January 2008
Concluding Observations issued: 8 April 2008
Issues raised:
Gender and stereotyping: The Committee notes with concern that, despite the initiatives undertaken by the State party to eliminate gender-role stereotypes, including awareness-raising campaigns, education of boys and girls on equality between men and women, and incentives to diversify the roles of men and women, stereotypes related to traditional roles of men as breadwinners and women as mothers and caregivers persist and affect the educational and professional choices of women. (Paragraph 15).
The Committee calls on the State party to consider strengthened measures aimed at changing attitudes concerning women's traditional roles and responsibilities in child and family care. Such measures should include curbing the portrayal, including in school and in the media, of discriminatory images, attitudes and perceptions about the roles and responsibilities of women and girls and men and boys in the family and in society, and further awareness-raising and education initiatives for both women and men with respect to sharing tasks within the family. The Committee recognizes that changing mentality is a long- term endeavour and calls upon the State party to continue, in a comprehensive manner, its efforts until these gender-role stereotypes are eliminated.
Education: While noting Luxembourg’s outstanding education system, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to the prevailing stereotyped choices of academic and vocational fields. The Committee also expresses concern at the unequal access to quality education at all levels for girls of foreign origin and at the indication of the high level drop-out rate from school at various levels among these girls. (Paragraph 25).
The Committee encourages the State party to strengthen its programme aimed at diversifying academic and vocational choices for girls and boys and take further measures to encourage girls to pursue untraditional education fields. The Committee also calls upon the State party to closely monitor the situation of girls of foreign origin in all educational levels and to continue to address the difficulties they experience in the school system.
Health: While noting the favourable health situation in Luxembourg and welcoming the State party’s intention to develop an anti-smoking programme, the Committee is concerned at the reported increase in smoking among women, particularly young women, and its effects on children. The Committee is equally concerned at the lack of information provided with regard to mental health problems that seem to be experienced by young people, including young women. (Paragraph 27).
The Committee recommends that the State party conduct a study on the underlying causes of popularity of smoking among young women and to integrate a gender perspective in its anti-smoking strategy, including in any awareness-raising campaigns. The Committee invites the State party to include, in its next periodic report, information on the results of measures taken to address smoking problems, disaggregated data on the situation of women and young girls’ mental health in the State party and information on its response thereto, and particularly access to relevant services. Furthermore, the Committee calls the State party’s attention to the Committee’s General Recommendation 24 which gives guidelines on gender sensitive approach to health policies.
Trafficking: While acknowledging the measures taken to curb trafficking, including the anti-trafficking bill, the establishment of a special investigation unit within the national police and the inter-ministerial working group which coordinates actions to combat trafficking, the Committee remains concerned about the paucity of data with regard to trafficking of women and girls into Luxembourg, which did not provide it with a clear picture of the situation on the ground. The Committee is further concerned at the reported difficulties in identification and investigation of trafficking cases. (Paragraph 31).
The State party is encouraged to provide, in its next report, comprehensive information on the prevalence of trafficking to and out of Luxembourg as well as information on the impact of measures taken and results achieved. The Committee calls upon the State party to accelerate the adoption of the anti-trafficking bill and requests the State party to take all appropriate measures to ensure better identification and investigation of trafficking cases, particularly through enhanced training and capacity-building efforts for law enforcement officials so as to increase their ability to identify potential victims of trafficking. The Committee invites the State party to further strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation with countries of origin, transit and destination of trafficking victims so as to further curb this phenomenon.
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UN Committee against Torture
CAT/C/LUX/CO/5
Last reported: 3 / 4 May 2007
Concluding Observations issued: 16 July 2007
Issues raised:
Juvenile justice: The Committee takes note of the information provided by the State party in its written replies, according to which negotiations have been held between the Ministry of the Family, the Ministry of Public Works and the municipality of Wormeldange with a view to reaching an agreement on completion of the project to build the Dreiborn closed security unit for minors. It also notes that, at the time of consideration of this report, the municipal council had yet to issue a construction permit. However, the Committee continues to be concerned about the placement of minors in the Luxembourg Prison, which cannot be regarded as a suitable environment for them, especially as it cannot be guaranteed that there will be no contact whatsoever between minors and adult detainees. The Committee is also concerned that minors in conflict with the law and those with social or behavioural problems are placed in the same facilities and that minors aged between 16 and 18 may be brought before ordinary courts and tried as adults for particularly serious offences (arts. 11 and 16). (Paragraph 10).
The Committee urgently reiterates its previous recommendation that minors should not be placed in adult prisons for disciplinary purposes (CAT/C/CR/28/2, paras. 5 and 6). The State party should also take the necessary steps to build the Dreiborn security unit as soon as possible and, in the interim, to ensure that minors are kept strictly separate from adult detainees. The State party should also keep children in conflict with the law separate from minors with social or behavioural problems, do everything possible to ensure that minors are never tried as adults, and set up an independent monitoring body to inspect juvenile facilities regularly (CRC/C/15/Add.250, para. 61 (c), (d) and (e)).
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UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Not yet signed or ratified.
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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
CRPD/C/LUX/CO/1
Last reported: 4 March 2014
Concluding observations issued: 29 August 2017
Specific rights (arts. 5-30)
Children with disabilities (art. 7)
The Committee is concerned that some children with disabilities, particularly those with high support requirements, may not have live in their families nor have the access to education and other services within the community, on an equal basis with others and may sometimes live in residential institutions abroad. It is also concerned that children with disabilities do not systematically participate in decision-making that affects their lives and that they lack opportunities to express their opinion on matters pertaining to them directly, including administrative and judicial procedures (para. 16).
The Committee recommends that the State party: adopt measures to appropriately respond to the requirements of children with disabilities at the local, regional and national levels and ensure the equal rights of children with disabilities to life with their family, and have access to education and other services within the community; adopt measures to fulfil the right of children with disabilities to be consulted on all matters that affect them, and to guarantee that they have disability and age-appropriate support to realize that right, including in judicial and administrative procedures (para. 17).
Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)
The Committee is concerned that: persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities, may be subject to violence and abuse, including domestic violence and that laws in this regard, including the Domestic Violence Act of 2003 lack a disability perspective and lack monitoring mechanisms to detect, prevent and combat violence within and outside the home (para. 32, a).
The Committee recommends that the State party enact legislation, including monitoring mechanisms, to detect, prevent and combat violence within and outside the home of persons with disabilities, especially for women and children with disabilities. It encourages the State party to expedite the ratification of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Council of Europe) (para. 33, b).
Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)
The Committee is concerned about reports of the forced administration of contraceptives to women with disabilities of reproductive age, particularly of women and girls with disabilities with intellectual disabilities still living in State-funded institutions. It is also concerned that persons with disabilities are still subject to medical treatments without their free and informed consent, particularly persons still under guardianship (para. 34).
The Committee recommends that the State party adopt all necessary legislative and other measures to prevent and stop non-consensual contraception measures or medical treatment, including when consent is given by a third party (para. 35).
Education (art. 24)
The Committee is concerned that education laws still allow for the segregation of students with disabilities, and that segregated education environments persist, especially for students with intellectual disabilities,. It is also concerned about: The absence of a legally defined procedure for the provision of reasonable accommodation and for assistant support staff in classrooms, in public and private schools; The misunderstanding of reasonable accommodation as reflected in Act of 15 July 2011, which undermines the process of identifying the response to individual requirements in dialogue with the person concerned and limits reasonable accommodation to existing options set out by the Act; Negative attitudes towards disability in education and low expectations of students with disabilities; The insufficient training of teachers, support teachers and non-teaching personnel on inclusive education; The absence of data and indicators to monitor the quality of education and inclusion of students with disabilities as well as accessibility standards of school infrastructures, information and communications, including ICTs (para. 42).
Recalling its general comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education and the Sustainable Development Goal 4, especially its targets 4.5 and 4.8, the Committee recommends that the State party: Amend the laws on education to ensure that no student is refused admission to mainstream schools on the basis of disability, ensure accessibility and allocate the resources necessary to guarantee reasonable accommodation, including assistant support staff, including pre-school and tertiary education and the private sector; Adopt a legally defined procedure for the provision of reasonable accommodation in all levels of education and allocate the necessary resources to guarantee reasonable accommodation according to individual requirements in consultation with the person concerned; Design and implement an action plan on inclusive education with sufficient resources, timelines and specific goals; Increase awareness-raising initiatives, including training on inclusive education and its implementation mandatory for teachers, support teachers and non-teaching education personnel; Increase data collection on, among others, the implementation of education laws and policies, and accessibility of school infrastructures, information and communications, including ICTs, to inform inclusive education policies (para. 43).
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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Signed in 2007 but not yet ratified.