Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: General overview of Sudan's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
عر بية Status of CRC in national law Constitution: Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan (http://www.sudan-embassy.de/c_Sudan.pdf) was ratified on 5 July 2005. Articles that specifically reference children or children's rights include: Articles 14(1) and 14(2) mention children in reference to “Children, Youth and Sports”. Article 32 of the Constitution deals with Rights of Women and Children, with sections 4 and 5 specifically referring to the rights of the child. The Constitution of Southern Sudan (http://www.chr.up.ac.za/undp/domestic/docs/c_SouthernSudan.pdf) was signed in December 2005. Articles that specifically reference children or children's rights include: Articles 21(1)-21(4) discuss the rights of the child. Articles 42(3) and 42(4) refer to the relationship between parents and their children. Article 43 deals with Children, Youth and Sports. Legislation: Based on the uncertain political situation in Sudan, it is at times difficult to determine which Sudanese legislation is in effect at any particular time. The two main acts relating to children’s rights in Sudan are currently the Child Act (2010), which applies to the country as a whole, and the Child Act (2008) of Southern Sudan. Other statues relating to children include, but are not limited to: The Criminal Procedures Act The Juvenile Care Act (1983) The Criminal Act Legal Research: Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis: Current legal reform projects
National laws on children’s rights
In 2010, the Sudanese Government reported to the Committee on the Rights of the Child that “[p]ursuant to the legislative framework in the Sudan, any convention ratified by the Sudan shall be considered part of the legal framework in the country, and any article in any law that contradicts it should be amended or eliminated, as the Interim National Constitution of the Sudan, 2005, stipulates in article 27, the Bill of Rights.”
Legislation Sudan (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwesud.htm) provides a fairly wide selection of English-language Sudanese legislation. The GlobaLex initative at New York University also offers an overview of the Sudanese legal system and guide to legal research (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Sudan.htm), while the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/sudan.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/50823.html) both offer a selection of helpful links to official government websites and academic resources on Sudan.
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.
The Judiciary of the Republic of Sudan maintains a website (http://www.sudanjudiciary.org/golded/en/court.htm) with resources available in English and Arabic.
In its 2010 Concluding Observations on the Sudanese government's report, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed the Child Act (2010). The Committee was “concerned, however, that the State party is yet to establish a regulatory and policy framework to effect its implementation” and “note[d] with particular concern the absence of a comprehensive body of subsidiary legislation and that many government agencies have not been able to implement the Child Act as they are yet to receive the necessary instructions from the National Council for Child Welfare.”
In its 2010 Concluding Observations on the Sudanese government's report, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was generally concerned that the ongoing armed conflicts in the State have had a highly negative impact on children across the country and on the implementation of the CRC as a whole in the State. In particular, they were concerned with the implementation of Article 12.6, in that the views of all children, especially girls, are not respected, nor are they taken into account in decisions that affect them. Sudan does have specific legislation in place which allows a child to institute legal proceedings through his or her legal guardian and to provide testimony, but there is no legislation that specifically protects the voice of the child. The Committee was concerned with the prevalence of physical and psychological abuse occurring in families that is not adequately monitored, reported on or addressed. They also raised the issue of the State’s treatment of “vagrant” or street children.
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.