Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
Independent Expert on foreign debt
(A/HRC/14/21/Add.1)
Country visit: 28 April - 8 May 2009
No mentions of children's rights.
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Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
(A/HRC/7/4/Add.2)
Country visit: 27 April to 2 May 2007
Report published: 11 October 2007
- There is no separate juvenile justice system in Norway. Juveniles are tried in the same criminal courts as adults, with no comprehensive special legal regime. Some specific provisions relate to minors. The minimum age at which a person can be held criminally liable is 15 (see section 46 of the General Civil Penal Code). Persons under the age of 18 should not be arrested (section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act) or ordered to complete isolation in pretrial detention (section 186 (a), paragraph 1, cl. 2, of the Criminal Protection Act) unless it is especially necessary. The relative time limit for isolation of juveniles under the age of 18 is two weeks at a time; the absolute time limit may never exceed eight weeks. It is the government's policy not to take any minors breaking the law into custody. There are no specific detention institutions for juveniles under the age of 18. At the time of the visit of the Working Group, eight such juveniles remained in detention (para 43)
The Working Group understands that it is a policy decision of the government to refrain from providing for a juvenile justice system specifically tailored to the needs of minors. Although the number of detained minors at present is low in comparison, the problem persists when juveniles above the age of 15 are detained together with adults while on remand or serving their sentences. The Working Group was informed that the issue is under consideration in Parliament and that a committee established by the Government, which is expected to finish its work by 1 October 2008, will make sure that its recommendations are within the framework of international obligations, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (paras 43, 70)
- Detention: Pursuant to the act relating to Child Welfare Services, sections 4-24 et seq., a juvenile below the age of 18 who has displayed serious behavioural problems either in the form of serious or repeated crime, or of persistent abuse of intoxicating substances, or in other ways, may, as a last resort, be compulsorily placed in an appropriate institution for up to four weeks with the possibility of one renewal up to 12 months. Placement orders are made by the County Social Welfare Board, whereby temporary orders may also be made by the head of the Child Welfare Administration and by the prosecuting authority. Such orders may only be made if the institution has the expertise and resources required to provide the child with satisfactory assistance in relation to the purpose of the placement. (para 44)
- Minimum age of criminal responsibility: Another positive aspect of the criminal justice system is the fact that minors breaking the law are criminally liable only from the age of 15. Detention of persons between 15 and 18 years of age is used as a last resort. Only eight currently remain imprisoned in connection with serious offences. The consequence of the Government's policy to do its utmost to prevent detention of juveniles under the age of 18 and the lack of special closed institutions entail the consequence, however, that these minors are imprisoned together with adults. The Working Group met with one 17-year-old who was detained with adults in a high-security prison (Ila prison). (para 69)