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Summary: General overview of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' 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 Constitution: Chapter I of the Constitution contains a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, but also a small number that make specific reference to the rights of children alongside further provisions throughout the rest of the Constitution that address children: Legislation: There is no comprehensive Children's Act in the laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, though there are thematic laws that cover significant areas of the law relating to children. Relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to: Legal Research: Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis: The Committee also raised the State's failure to institute the principle of non-discrimination with respect to several aspects of national law. Specifically, the Committee expressed concern that the Constitution did not specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of language, nationality, ethnicity, social origin, disability, birth or other status, and that there was persistent de facto discrimination against children with disabilities, and against children with HIV or AIDS. As such, the Committee highlighted the need to amend the Constitution and institute appropriate laws so as to bring national law into conformity with the Convention. The need to update laws was also a theme that emerged through several more specific recommendations of the Committee. In relation to domestic law on economic exploitation and child labour, the Committee noted that there are insufficient protections in place and recommended that the State conduct a review in order to harmonise law with the Convention. The Committee also raised the lack of legislation with regards to alternative care, noting an absence of a legislative basis for foster care placements, as well as reports that payments have been made in exchange for the adoption of children. Current law reform projects
International treaties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, must be incorporated into the law of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines through further domestic legislation in order to create enforceable rights. The CRC has not been directly incorporated in this manner, and so does not prevail over national law. Nonetheless, the CRC can be and has been cited for interpretive guidance by national and regional courts with jursidiction over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The World Law Guide provides access to a selection of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' national legislation in English (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwestv.htm), as does the International Labour Organisation's NATLEX website (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=VCT). The Constitution is available in English through the website of Georgetown University (http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Vincent/stvincent79.html). The Ministry of Legal Affairs publishes information on national law in English (http://www.legal.gov.vc/) and links to other governmental and legal resources. In addition, the GlobaLex initiative at New York University has published a guide to legal research in the Caribbean (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Caribbean1.htm), and both the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/stvincent.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/vc/) provide a selection of links to relevant legal and governmental resources.
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 from national courts in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is not readily available online; however, regional courts of appeal that review the decisions of these courts publish their decisions online.The Commonwealth Legal Information Institute publishes the case law of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (http://www.commonlii.org/int/cases/ECarSC/) as does the website of the Court itself (http://www.eccourts.org/judgments.html). The British and Irish Legal Information Institute publishes the case law of the Privy Council (http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/).
In its 2002 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had begun a process of harmonising its legislation within the framework of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, but expressed concern that progress had been slow, and that some existing legislation was outdated and did not take into consideration the CRC's principles and provisions. The Committee also noted that there had not been a general review of legislation of direct relevance to children since the ratification of the Convention. The Committee urged the State to conduct such a review and to amend existing law and adopt new legislation so as to harmonise national legislation with the Convention.
Perhaps the area of national law that emerged as most persistently at odds with the provisions of the Convention in the Committee on the Rights of the Child's Concluding Observations was the Vincentian juvenile justice system. The Committee highlighted the very low age of criminal responsibility (8 years), the failure to provide special protections for all persons under the age of 18, the very limited availability of legal assistance for children and the practice of detaining children with adults. The Committee urged the State to address these concerns and further recommended that the Government take steps to prohibit, as a matter of urgency, the corporal punishment of children in the context of the juvenile justice system.
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.