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Summary: General overview of Turkmenistan'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 Constitution of Turkmenistan recognises “the primacy of generally recognised norms of international law” and article 4 of the Law on International Treaties provides that if an international treaty, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, establishes rules other than those stipulated by domestic legislation, the international treaty should be applied. It is not clear, however, if the Convention has been, or can be, invoked in domestic courts. Constitution: Section II of the Constitution of Turkmenistan contains a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, but only a small number throughout the Constitution specifically address the rights of children: Article 27: provides that parents and “substitute parents” have the right and obligation to raise their children, care for their health, development, education, prepare them for work and impart to them the culture of respect for the law, historical and national traditions. Article 28: provides that every citizen has a right to education, that secondary education is compulsory and that everyone is entitled to receive it in public schools free of charge. Article 35: provides that every citizen has the right to education and that elementary and high-school are mandatory and everyone has the right to receive such education free of charge in governmental education institutions. Article 37: requires that families with a large number of children, orphans, veterans, people who lost their health while protecting the state or public interests, are provided additional support and privileges from state and public funds. Legislation: there is no comprehensive or consolidated Children's Code in Turkmen law, rather provisions relevant to children can be found in various Acts and Codes. Legislation of particular relevance to children includes, but is by no means limited to: The Rights of the Child (Guarantees) Act of 5 July 2002 The Criminal Code 1997 The Criminal Procedure Code 2003 The Civil Code 1998 The Civil Procedure Code 1964 The Marriage and Family Code 1969 The Labour Code 1972 The Code on Administrative Offences 1984 Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons 2007 Legal Research The National Assembly of Turkmenistan (Mejlis) does not maintain a website in English. The Constitution of Turkmenistan is available through the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=254618) A selection of legislation is available in English through the Legislation Online website (http://www.legislationline.org/countries/country/51) and in English and Russian through the International Labour Organisation website, NATLEX (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=TKM). The World Law Guide also provides access to a selection of legislation in English (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwetmi.htm). In addition, the GlobaLex project at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Turkmenistan (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Turkmenistan1.htm) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/tm/) and the U.S. law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/turkmenistan.php) both provide access to a selection 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 Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any online resources that provide access to the decisions of Turkmenistan's courts. Compliance with the CRC In its Concluding Observations of 2006, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed reforms of legislation in Turkmenistan to address the rights of children, especially with regards to adoption and guardianship, but expressed concern that the implementation of this legislation was not always adequate. The Committee also expressed concern that the Child (Guarantees) Act, did not protect all of the rights enshrined in the Convention and urged the State to review this law, and domestic legislation in general, to bring national law into conformity with the Convention. In depth analysis Numerous areas of the law of Turkmenistan emerged from these Observations as in contravention of the Convention. The Committee highlighted a number of areas of national law which lacked the necessary legislation to implement the Convention and in particular urged the State to introduce legislation to criminalise trafficking and to protect the rights of children with disabilities. With regards to adoption, the Committee also raised concerns that provisions allowing for secret adoption (article 129 of the Marriage and Family Code) and the criminal offence of breach of confidentiality (article 157 of the Criminal Code) may hamper children's right to know their parents. The Committee urged the State to take measures to ensure that children's rights are not impeded in this regard and to ensure that in decisions concerning adoption, children's best interests are a paramount consideration. The Committee also expressed extensive concerns with regards to Turkmenistan's juvenile justice system. Specifically, the Committee highlighted the application of the same criminal procedure to children as to adults; extensive pre-trial detention of up to six months; that conditions in detention were inadequate; and that confessions were often extracted by force that may amount to torture, and used as evidence in court. The corresponding recommendations urged the State to take urgent steps to substantially improve the conditions of detention for persons under 18, to ensure children are only deprived of their liberty as a measure of last resort and to investigate thoroughly all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in the juvenile justice system. Current legal reform projects Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.