Miruktamova Feruza Lutfullayevna
Independent researcher of the Department of
“UNESCO Chair on International Law and Human Rights”
of the University of World Economy and
Diplomacy in Tashkent
Convention on the Rights of the Child - the basis of international legal
standards on the rights of the child
Keywords: the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, children's
rights, children's rights in Uzbekistan, protection of children's rights.
Abstract: the article examines the role and the significance of
the Convention in the field of protection of children's rights. Also, the
implementation of the basic principles and provisions of the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child in the national legislation of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 20,
1989, constitutes a milestone in the history of the protection of the rights of
the child. It entered into force in 1990.
The very fact of
its coming into force the next year after its adoption testifies its importance
that the international community attached to the recognition and protection of
the special needs of children representing the most vulnerable part of society.
Its adoption was preceded by an important preparatory stage, connected
primarily with the development of the fundamental principles enshrined in the
Declaration of the Rights of the Child from 1959. The logical conclusion is their
integration of them in to a legally binding document as the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
It is
significant that the UN Commission on Human Rights began to develop its project
in the International Year of the Child - in 1979. The remarkable aspect of this
fact is that it symbolizes the firm determination of the international
community to affirm and protect the rights of the child, in any part of the
world in case they are violated.
The volume of
the Convention is quite big. It consists of 54 articles and the Preamble, which
justify the idea of its adoption.
The participating
States of the Convention were convinced that in order to improve the living
conditions of children in each country, especially in developing countries,
international cooperation should be developed and strengthened.
Such a belief is
in full accord with the process of globalization developing in the world. No
country should lag behind or stand aside from the positive achievements of
mankind in the field of human rights. This is a necessary condition for the
progress of human development.
The Convention
introduces two new, very important concepts:
One of them -
"the best interests of the child" (Article 3) serves as a criterion,
as noted above, for all actions against children.
The second is
the principle that parents or other responsible for the child are required to
properly manage and guide the child in accordance with the developing abilities
of the child.
According to the
Convention, "all actions with respect to children" should be defined
by the criterion of "best interests of the child" (art. 3). This
criterion also applies to the parental relationship to their children. They
(parents or substitutes) should exercise their parental rights in accordance
with the developing abilities of the child, i.e. in his interests.
This is the
ideological and philosophical essence of the "children's" Convention,
which is rightly called the "universal constitution of the rights of the
child."
The universal character
of its scope is that it is the first legally binding international legal treaty
in the field of the rights of the child in the history of mankind. Its
provisions are devoid of declarative nature.
The moral and
political basis of the Convention is the International Bill of Human Rights
which includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International
Covenants of 1966 with the two Optional Protocols to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, and the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the
Child. The legal basis for its creation was also the key documents in the field
of children's rights that are discussed
above.
The strength of
the moral and legal impact of the Convention lies in the fact that its
provisions must be reproduced in the national legislation of those states that
have ratified or acceded to it.
The very fact of
the ratification of the Convention by the overwhelming majority of the states
of the world testifies the strength of its regulatory impact. It has been
ratified by all but two - Somalia and the United States.
Every five
years, member states of the UNO, incl. the Republic of Uzbekistan, are obliged
to report to the Committee through the Secretary-General of the United Nations
on the measures they have taken to implement the rights enshrined in the
Convention (art. 44). This will be discussed below.
The practical
importance of the creation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child can not
be overemphasized. Systematic monitoring, organized for the implementation of
the "children's" Convention, promotes the protection of the rights of
children at both the international and local levels, preventing violations of
the rights of the child.
The provisions
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are not applied directly in the
Republic of Uzbekistan, but are implemented in the Constitution and various branches
of legislation to which the courts refer when making their decisions.
In ensuring the
rights of the child, Uzbekistan is guided by other major international treaties
to the UN, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Having joined the main six international
instruments of the United Nations, the Republic of Uzbekistan has undertaken
international obligations to ensure the protection of the rights of the child
in accordance with universally recognized principles and norms of international
law.
The UN
International Standards for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their
Liberty, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
(the Beijing Rules), the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile
Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) and other UN recommendations are taken into
account in the, development and improvement of the national legislation of the
Republic of Uzbekistan which regulates the implementation of the rights of the
child in the field of justice.
In Uzbekistan,
mechanisms have been put in to place to implement the recommendations of the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child. Thus, having considered the initial report
of Uzbekistan on November 7, 2001, the Committee on the Rights of the Child
made the recommendations to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In order to
implement the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the
Child, the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with the coordination of
the National Centre for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the
participation of other government bodies and non-governmental non-profit
organizations, the first "National Action Plan for the Implementation of
the Recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child" was
approved in 2001.
On January 7,
2008, despite the fact that more than 100 laws regulate certain rights and
freedoms of the child in Uzbekistan, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
"On guarantees of the rights of the child" came into force. The need
for its development of which can be justified by the following factors.
First, article 4
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges the State party to take
all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to implement the
rights of the child. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its
recommendations following the consideration of the initial national report of
the Republic of Uzbekistan on the implementation of the provisions of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, indicated the need for a single codified
instrument that fully implemented the provisions and principles of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Secondly, in
August 2005, the Agreement "Action Plan for the Country Program for
2005-2009" was signed between the Government of the Republic and the UNICEF.
This provision included provisions on supporting the efforts of the Government
of Uzbekistan to develop and adopt a single legislative act on the protection
and guarantees of the rights of the child.
Thirdly, the
development of a special Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On guarantees
of the rights of the child" was also envisaged by the "National
Action Plan for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the UN Committee
on the Rights of the Child" which was adopted by the Government of the
Republic of Uzbekistan in 2001.
Fourthly, the
expediency of the adoption of the Law "On guarantees of the rights of the
child" was confirmed by the resolution of the May 2005 at the International
Forum "Effective forms and methods of rendering assistance to socially
vulnerable children" organized by the Republican Public Children's Fund
"Sen Yolgis Emassan". The recommendations of this International Forum
were reflected in the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of May 25, 2005, which
set the task of drafting the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On
Guarantees of the Rights of the Child".
Fifth, the
worsening of the situation with ensuring the rights of the child in the world,
due to the aggravation of the global problems of mankind and the negative
consequences of globalization also call for additional legal protection of the
rights and freedoms of the child.
In a number of
foreign countries (the Russian Federation, Belarus, Lithuania, Romania,
Estonia, Haiti) separate laws "On the Rights of the Child" or
"On Guarantees of the Rights of the Child" have been adopted. This
practice was an example of the codification of the child's right in a single
normative act.
Thus, the
development and the adoption of the Law "On guarantees of the rights of
the child" were conditioned by both international and internal factors.
The Law on Guarantees of the Rights of the Child aims, on the one hand, to strengthen
the legal status of the child in the Republic of Uzbekistan, and on the other,
to implement the basic principles and provisions of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child into national legislation.
The Law "On
Guarantees of the Rights of the Child" is the first in the legal history
of Uzbekistan as a
special law in the field of children's rights. By its designated purpose, it is
designed to regulate the relationship associated with determining the legal
status of the child, to legally guarantee the rights and
freedoms of the child. In connection with the focus of the Law, the main object
of its regulation is the regulation of guarantees that ensure the actual
realization of the rights and interests of the child. It should be noted that
more than half of its articles are devoted to the definition of guarantees of
various rights of the child.
In the
structural plan, each article of the Law is formulated in such a way that it
specifies the specific bodies and persons (the state, guardianship authorities,
parents, the court, the prosecutor's office, etc.) that are obliged to take
appropriate measures to promote the respect and the realization of the rights
of the child.
The law clearly
establishes the guarantees of the rights and freedoms of the child provided for
by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The law not only
establishes the rights of the child provided for by the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, but also develops its provisions by regulating the rights
of the child to private property, housing and work, and establishes additional
guarantees for the rights of socially vulnerable children against the family
environment, integration into society, housing rights , social assistance,
education, etc.