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Optional protocols to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child
The two Optional Protocols were adopted
by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 May 2000.
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Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in
armed conflict
The States Parties to the present Protocol,
Encouraged by the overwhelming support for
the Convention on the Rights of the Child,1 demonstrating
the widespread commitment that exists to strive for the promotion
and protection of the rights of the child,
Reaffirming that the rights of children
require special protection, and calling for continuous improvement
of the situation of children without distinction, as well
as for their development and education in conditions of peace
and security,
Disturbed by the harmful and widespread
impact of armed conflict on children and the long-term consequences
it has for durable peace, security and development,
Condemning the targeting of children in
situations of armed conflict and direct attacks on objects
protected under international law, including places that generally
have a significant presence of children, such as schools and
hospitals,
Noting the adoption of the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court, in particular, the inclusion
therein as a war crime, of conscripting or enlisting children
under the age of 15 years or using them to participate actively
in hostilities in both international and non-international
armed conflicts,
Considering therefore that to strengthen
further the implementation of rights recognized in the Convention
on the Rights of the Child there is a need to increase the
protection of children from involvement in armed conflict,
Noting that article 1 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child specifies that, for the purposes
of that Convention, a child means every human being below
the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier,
Convinced that an optional protocol to the
Convention that raises the age of possible recruitment of
persons into armed forces and their participation in hostilities
will contribute effectively to the implementation of the principle
that the best interests of the child are to be a primary consideration
in all actions concerning children,
Noting that the twenty-sixth International
Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in December 1995
recommended, inter alia, that parties to conflict take every
feasible step to ensure that children below the age of 18
years do not take part in hostilities,
Welcoming the unanimous adoption, in June
1999, of International Labour Organization Convention No.
182 on the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination
of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which prohibits, inter
alia, forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use
in armed conflict,
Condemning with the gravest concern the
recruitment, training and use within and across national borders
of children in hostilities by armed groups distinct from the
armed forces of a State, and recognizing the responsibility
of those who recruit, train and use children in this regard,
Recalling the obligation of each party to
an armed conflict to abide by the provisions of international
humanitarian law,
Stressing that the present Protocol is without
prejudice to the purposes and principles contained in the
Charter of the United Nations, including Article 51, and relevant
norms of humanitarian law,
Bearing in mind that conditions of peace
and security based on full respect of the purposes and principles
contained in the Charter and observance of applicable human
rights instruments are indispensable for the full protection
of children, in particular during armed conflicts and foreign
occupation,
Recognizing the special needs of those children
who are particularly vulnerable to recruitment or use in hostilities
contrary to the present Protocol owing to their economic or
social status or gender,
Mindful of the necessity of taking into
consideration the economic, social and political root causes
of the involvement of children in armed conflicts,
Convinced of the need to strengthen international
cooperation in the implementation of the present Protocol,
as well as the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and
social reintegration of children who are victims of armed
conflict,
Encouraging the participation of the community
and, in particular, children and child victims in the dissemination
of informational and educational programmes concerning the
implementation of the Protocol,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
States Parties shall take all feasible measures
to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not
attained the age of 18 years do not take a direct part in
hostilities.
Article 2
States Parties shall ensure that persons
who have not attained the age of 18 years are not compulsorily
recruited into their armed forces.
Article 3
1. States Parties shall raise in years the
minimum age for the voluntary recruitment of persons into
their national armed forces from that set out in article 38,
paragraph 3, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,1
taking account of the principles contained in that article
and recognizing that under the Convention persons under the
age of 18 years are entitled to special protection.
2. Each State Party shall deposit a binding
declaration upon ratification of or accession to the present
Protocol that sets forth the minimum age at which it will
permit voluntary recruitment into its national armed forces
and a description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure
that such recruitment is not forced or coerced.
3. States Parties that permit voluntary
recruitment into their national armed forces under the age
of 18 years shall maintain safeguards to ensure, as a minimum,
that:
(a) Such recruitment is genuinely voluntary;
(b) Such recruitment is carried out with
the informed consent of the person's parents or legal guardians;
(c) Such persons are fully informed of the
duties involved in such military service;
(d) Such persons provide reliable proof
of age prior to acceptance into national military service.
4. Each State Party may strengthen its declaration
at any time by notification to that effect addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall inform
all States Parties. Such notification shall take effect on
the date on which it is received by the Secretary-General.
5. The requirement to raise the age in paragraph
1 of the present article does not apply to schools operated
by or under the control of the armed forces of the States
Parties, in keeping with articles 28 and 29 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
Article 4
1. Armed groups that are distinct from the
armed forces of a State should not, under any circumstances,
recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of 18
years.
2. States Parties shall take all feasible
measures to prevent such recruitment and use, including the
adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize
such practices.
3. The application of the present article
shall not affect the legal status of any party to an armed
conflict.
Article 5
Nothing in the present Protocol shall be
construed as precluding provisions in the law of a State Party
or in international instruments and international humanitarian
law that are more conducive to the realization of the rights
of the child.
Article 6
1. Each State Party shall take all necessary
legal, administrative and other measures to ensure the effective
implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the present
Protocol within its jurisdiction.
2. States Parties undertake to make the
principles and provisions of the present Protocol widely known
and promoted by appropriate means, to adults and children
alike.
3. States Parties shall take all feasible
measures to ensure that persons within their jurisdiction
recruited or used in hostilities contrary to the present Protocol
are demobilized or otherwise released from service. States
Parties shall, when necessary, accord to such persons all
appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological
recovery and their social reintegration.
Article 7
1. States Parties shall cooperate in the
implementation of the present Protocol, including in the prevention
of any activity contrary thereto and in the rehabilitation
and social reintegration of persons who are victims of acts
contrary thereto, including through technical cooperation
and financial assistance. Such assistance and cooperation
will be undertaken in consultation with the States Parties
concerned and the relevant international organizations.
2. States Parties in a position to do so
shall provide such assistance through existing multilateral,
bilateral or other programmes or, inter alia, through a voluntary
fund established in accordance with the rules of the General
Assembly.
Article 8
1. Each State Party shall, within two years
following the entry into force of the present Protocol for
that State Party, submit a report to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child providing comprehensive information on
the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of the
Protocol, including the measures taken to implement the provisions
on participation and recruitment.
2. Following the submission of the comprehensive
report, each State Party shall include in the reports it submits
to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in accordance
with article 44 of the Convention, any further information
with respect to the implementation of the Protocol. Other
States Parties to the Protocol shall submit a report every
five years.
3. The Committee on the Rights of the Child
may request from States Parties further information relevant
to the implementation of the present Protocol.
Article 9
1. The present Protocol is open for signature
by any State that is a party to the Convention or has signed
it.
2. The present Protocol is subject to ratification
and is open to accession by any State. Instruments of ratification
or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
3. The Secretary-General, in his capacity
as depositary of the Convention and the Protocol, shall inform
all States Parties to the Convention and all States that have
signed the Convention of each instrument of declaration pursuant
to article 3.
Article 10
1. The present Protocol shall enter into
force three months after the deposit of the tenth instrument
of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present
Protocol or acceding to it after its entry into force, the
Protocol shall enter into force one month after the date of
the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 11
1. Any State Party may denounce the present
Protocol at any time by written notification to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, who shall thereafter inform the other
States Parties to the Convention and all States that have
signed the Convention. The denunciation shall take effect
one year after the date of receipt of the notification by
the Secretary-General. If, however, on the expiry of that
year the denouncing State Party is engaged in armed conflict,
the denunciation shall not take effect before the end of the
armed conflict.
2. Such a denunciation shall not have the
effect of releasing the State Party from its obligations under
the present Protocol in regard to any act that occurs prior
to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective. Nor
shall such a denunciation prejudice in any way the continued
consideration of any matter that is already under consideration
by the Committee on the Rights of the Child prior to the date
on which the denunciation becomes effective.
Article 12
1. Any State Party may propose an amendment
and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate the proposed
amendment to States Parties with a request that they indicate
whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the
purpose of considering and voting upon the proposals. In the
event that, within four months from the date of such communication,
at least one third of the States Parties favour such a conference,
the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the
auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a
majority of States Parties present and voting at the conference
shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations
for approval.
2. An amendment adopted in accordance with
paragraph 1 of the present article shall enter into force
when it has been approved by the General Assembly and accepted
by a two-thirds majority of States Parties.
3. When an amendment enters into force, it shall be binding
on those States Parties that have accepted it, other States
Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present
Protocol and any earlier amendments they have accepted.
Article 13
1. The present Protocol, of which the Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally
authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United
Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations
shall transmit certified copies of the present Protocol to
all States Parties to the Convention and all States that have
signed the Convention.
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Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography
The States Parties to the present Protocol,
Considering that, in order further to achieve
the purposes of the Convention on the Rights of the Child1
and the implementation of its provisions, especially articles
1, 11, 21, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, it would be appropriate
to extend the measures that States Parties should undertake
in order to guarantee the protection of the child from the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
Considering also that the Convention on
the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of the child
to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing
any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with
the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health
or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development,
Gravely concerned at the significant and
increasing international traffic in children for the purpose
of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
Deeply concerned at the widespread and continuing
practice of sex tourism, to which children are especially
vulnerable, as it directly promotes the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography,
Recognizing that a number of particularly
vulnerable groups, including girl children, are at greater
risk of sexual exploitation and that girl children are disproportionately
represented among the sexually exploited,
Concerned about the growing availability
of child pornography on the Internet and other evolving technologies,
and recalling the International Conference on Combating Child
Pornography on the Internet, held in Vienna in 1999, in particular
its conclusion calling for the worldwide criminalization of
the production, distribution, exportation, transmission, importation,
intentional possession and advertising of child pornography,
and stressing the importance of closer cooperation and partnership
between Governments and the Internet industry,
Believing that the elimination of the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography will
be facilitated by adopting a holistic approach, addressing
the contributing factors, including underdevelopment, poverty,
economic disparities, inequitable socio-economic structure,
dysfunctioning families, lack of education, urban-rural migration,
gender discrimination, irresponsible adult sexual behaviour,
harmful traditional practices, armed conflicts and trafficking
in children,
Believing also that efforts to raise public awareness are
needed to reduce consumer demand for the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography, and believing further
in the importance of strengthening global partnership among
all actors and of improving law enforcement at the national
level,
Noting the provisions of international legal
instruments relevant to the protection of children, including
the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, the Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the
Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition,
Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility
and Measures for the Protection of Children, and International
Labour Organization Convention No. 182 on the Prohibition
and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms
of Child Labour,
Encouraged by the overwhelming support for
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, demonstrating the
widespread commitment that exists for the promotion and protection
of the rights of the child,
Recognizing the importance of the implementation
of the provisions of the Programme of Action for the Prevention
of the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
and the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted at the World
Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996, and the other
relevant decisions and recommendations of pertinent international
bodies,
Taking due account of the importance of
the traditions and cultural values of each people for the
protection and harmonious development of the child,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
States Parties shall prohibit the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography as provided
for by the present Protocol.
Article 2
For the purposes of the present Protocol:
(a) Sale of children means any act or transaction
whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons
to another for remuneration or any other consideration;
(b) Child prostitution means the use of
a child in sexual activities for remuneration or any other
form of consideration;
(c) Child pornography means any representation,
by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated
explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual
parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes.
Article 3
1. Each State Party shall ensure that, as
a minimum, the following acts and activities are fully covered
under its criminal or penal law, whether such offences are
committed domestically or transnationally or on an individual
or organized basis:
(a) In the context of sale of children as
defined in article 2:
(i) Offering, delivering or accepting, by
whatever means, a child for the purpose of:
a. Sexual exploitation of the child;
b. Transfer of organs of the child for profit;
c. Engagement of the child in forced labour;
(ii) Improperly inducing consent, as an
intermediary, for the adoption of a child in violation of
applicable international legal instruments on adoption;
(b) Offering, obtaining, procuring or providing
a child for child prostitution, as defined in article 2;
(c) Producing, distributing, disseminating,
importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing for
the above purposes child pornography as defined in article
2.
2. Subject to the provisions of the national
law of a State Party, the same shall apply to an attempt to
commit any of the said acts and to complicity or participation
in any of the said acts.
3. Each State Party shall make such offences
punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account
their grave nature.
4. Subject to the provisions of its national
law, each State Party shall take measures, where appropriate,
to establish the liability of legal persons for offences established
in paragraph 1 of the present article. Subject to the legal
principles of the State Party, such liability of legal persons
may be criminal, civil or administrative.
5. States Parties shall take all appropriate
legal and administrative measures to ensure that all persons
involved in the adoption of a child act in conformity with
applicable international legal instruments.
Article 4
1. Each State Party shall take such measures
as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the
offences referred to in article 3, paragraph 1, when the offences
are commited in its territory or on board a ship or aircraft
registered in that State.
2. Each State Party may take such measures
as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the
offences referred to in article 3, paragraph 1, in the following
cases:
(a) When the alleged offender is a national of that State
or a person who has his habitual residence in its territory;
(b) When the victim is a national of that
State.
3. Each State Party shall also take such
measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction
over the aforementioned offences when the alleged offender
is present in its territory and it does not extradite him
or her to another State Party on the ground that the offence
has been committed by one of its nationals.
4. The present Protocol does not exclude
any criminal jurisdiction exercised in accordance with internal
law.
Article 5
1. The offences referred to in article 3,
paragraph 1, shall be deemed to be included as extraditable
offences in any extradition treaty existing between States
Parties and shall be included as extraditable offences in
every extradition treaty subsequently concluded between them,
in accordance with the conditions set forth in such treaties.
2. If a State Party that makes extradition
conditional on the existence of a treaty receives a request
for extradition from another State Party with which it has
no extradition treaty, it may consider the present Protocol
to be a legal basis for extradition in respect of such offences.
Extradition shall be subject to the conditions provided by
the law of the requested State.
3. States Parties that do not make extradition
conditional on the existence of a treaty shall recognize such
offences as extraditable offences between themselves subject
to the conditions provided by the law of the requested State.
4. Such offences shall be treated, for the
purpose of extradition between States Parties, as if they
had been committed not only in the place in which they occurred
but also in the territories of the States required to establish
their jurisdiction in accordance with article 4.
5. If an extradition request is made with
respect to an offence described in article 3, paragraph 1,
and the requested State Party does not or will not extradite
on the basis of the nationality of the offender, that State
shall take suitable measures to submit the case to its competent
authorities for the purpose of prosecution.
Article 6
1. States Parties shall afford one another
the greatest measure of assistance in connection with investigations
or criminal or extradition proceedings brought in respect
of the offences set forth in article 3, paragraph 1, including
assistance in obtaining evidence at their disposal necessary
for the proceedings.
2. States Parties shall carry out their
obligations under paragraph 1 of the present article in conformity
with any treaties or other arrangements on mutual legal assistance
that may exist between them. In the absence of such treaties
or arrangements, States Parties shall afford one another assistance
in accordance with their domestic law.
Article 7
States Parties shall, subject to the provisions
of their national law:
(a) Take measures to provide for the seizure and confiscation,
as appropriate, of:
(i) Goods, such as materials, assets and
other instrumentalities used to commit or facilitate offences
under the present protocol;
(ii) Proceeds derived from such offences;
(b) Execute requests from another State
Party for seizure or confiscation of goods or proceeds referred
to in subparagraph (a);
(c) Take measures aimed at closing, on a
temporary or definitive basis, premises used to commit such
offences.
Article 8
1. States Parties shall adopt appropriate
measures to protect the rights and interests of child victims
of the practices prohibited under the present Protocol at
all stages of the criminal justice process, in particular
by:
(a) Recognizing the vulnerability of child
victims and adapting procedures to recognize their special
needs, including their special needs as witnesses;
(b) Informing child victims of their rights,
their role and the scope, timing and progress of the proceedings
and of the disposition of their cases;
(c) Allowing the views, needs and concerns
of child victims to be presented and considered in proceedings
where their personal interests are affected, in a manner consistent
with the procedural rules of national law;
(d) Providing appropriate support services
to child victims throughout the legal process;
(e) Protecting, as appropriate, the privacy
and identity of child victims and taking measures in accordance
with national law to avoid the inappropriate dissemination
of information that could lead to the identification of child
victims;
(f) Providing, in appropriate cases, for
the safety of child victims, as well as that of their families
and witnesses on their behalf, from intimidation and retaliation;
(g) Avoiding unnecessary delay in the disposition
of cases and the execution of orders or decrees granting compensation
to child victims.
2. States Parties shall ensure that uncertainty
as to the actual age of the victim shall not prevent the initiation
of criminal investigations, including investigations aimed
at establishing the age of the victim.
3. States Parties shall ensure that, in
the treatment by the criminal justice system of children who
are victims of the offences described in the present Protocol,
the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration.
4. States Parties shall take measures to
ensure appropriate training, in particular legal and psychological
training, for the persons who work with victims of the offences
prohibited under the present Protocol.
5. States Parties shall, in appropriate
cases, adopt measures in order to protect the safety and integrity
of those persons and/or organizations involved in the prevention
and/or protection and rehabilitation of victims of such offences.
6. Nothing in the present article shall
be construed to be prejudicial to or inconsistent with the
rights of the accused to a fair and impartial trial.
Article 9
1. States Parties shall adopt or strengthen,
implement and disseminate laws, administrative measures, social
policies and programmes to prevent the offences referred to
in the present Protocol. Particular attention shall be given
to protect children who are especially vulnerable to such
practices.
2. States Parties shall promote awareness
in the public at large, including children, through information
by all appropriate means, education and training, about the
preventive measures and harmful effects of the offences referred
to in the present Protocol. In fulfilling their obligations
under this article, States Parties shall encourage the participation
of the community and, in particular, children and child victims,
in such information and education and training programmes,
including at the international level.
3. States Parties shall take all feasible
measures with the aim of ensuring all appropriate assistance
to victims of such offences, including their full social reintegration
and their full physical and psychological recovery.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all
child victims of the offences described in the present Protocol
have access to adequate procedures to seek, without discrimination,
compensation for damages from those legally responsible.
5. States Parties shall take appropriate
measures aimed at effectively prohibiting the production and
dissemination of material advertising the offences described
in the present Protocol.
Article 10
1. States Parties shall take all necessary
steps to strengthen international cooperation by multilateral,
regional and bilateral arrangements for the prevention, detection,
investigation, prosecution and punishment of those responsible
for acts involving the sale of children, child prostitution,
child pornography and child sex tourism. States Parties shall
also promote international cooperation and coordination between
their authorities, national and international non-governmental
organizations and international organizations.
2. States Parties shall promote international
cooperation to assist child victims in their physical and
psychological recovery, social reintegration and repatriation.
3. States Parties shall promote the strengthening
of international cooperation in order to address the root
causes, such as poverty and underdevelopment, contributing
to the vulnerability of children to the sale of children,
child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism.
4. States Parties in a position to do so
shall provide financial, technical or other assistance through
existing multilateral, regional, bilateral or other programmes.
Article 11
Nothing in the present Protocol shall affect
any provisions that are more conducive to the realization
of the rights of the child and that may be contained in:
(a) The law of a State Party;
(b) International law in force for that
State.
Article 12
1. Each State Party shall, within two years
following the entry into force of the present Protocol for
that State Party, submit a report to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child providing comprehensive information on
the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of the
Protocol.
2. Following the submission of the comprehensive
report, each State Party shall include in the reports they
submit to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in accordance
with article 44 of the Convention, any further information
with respect to the implementation of the present Protocol.
Other States Parties to the Protocol shall submit a report
every five years.
3. The Committee on the Rights of the Child
may request from States Parties further information relevant
to the implementation of the present Protocol.
Article 13
1. The present Protocol is open for signature
by any State that is a party to the Convention or has signed
it.
2. The present Protocol is subject to ratification
and is open to accession by any State that is a party to the
Convention or has signed it. Instruments of ratification or
accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of
the United Nations.
Article 14
1. The present Protocol shall enter into
force three months after the deposit of the tenth instrument
of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present
Protocol or acceding to it after its entry into force, the
Protocol shall enter into force one month after the date of
the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 15
1. Any State Party may denounce the present
Protocol at any time by written notification to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, who shall thereafter inform the other
States Parties to the Convention and all States that have
signed the Convention. The denunciation shall take effect
one year after the date of receipt of the notification by
the Secretary-General.
2. Such a denunciation shall not have the
effect of releasing the State Party from its obligations under
the present Protocol in regard to any offence that occurs
prior to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective.
Nor shall such a denunciation prejudice in any way the continued
consideration of any matter that is already under consideration
by the Committee on the Rights of the Child prior to the date
on which the denunciation becomes effective.
Article 16
1. Any State Party may propose an amendment
and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate the proposed
amendment to States Parties with a request that they indicate
whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the
purpose of considering and voting upon the proposals. In the
event that, within four months from the date of such communication,
at least one third of the States Parties favour such a conference,
the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the
auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a
majority of States Parties present and voting at the conference
shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations
for approval.
2. An amendment adopted in accordance with
paragraph 1 of the present article shall enter into force
when it has been approved by the General Assembly and accepted
by a two-thirds majority of States Parties.
3. When an amendment enters into force,
it shall be binding on those States Parties that have accepted
it, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions
of the present Protocol and any earlier amendments they have
accepted.
Article 17
1. The present Protocol, of which the Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally
authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United
Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations
shall transmit certified copies of the present Protocol to
all States Parties to the Convention and all States that have
signed the Convention.
ource: www.unicef.org
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