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International Laws

At HAQ we believe in using international law to strengthen our advocacy efforts on children. These international commitments by India must be reflected in our Indian laws, policies and institutions it creates for the realisation of child rights.

While the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols are the principal instruments concerned with children, there are some relevant Hague Conventions and other Regional Conventions, which are also important for the realisation of the rights of children. India has signed and ratified some of them, but there are several ones that it is yet to ratify and many where India has made declarations or reservations.

These important International Human Rights Instruments specifically address:

Children

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 RATIFIED on 11 December 1992 with a declaration on Article 32
Optional Protocol to CRC on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography SIGNED on 15 November 2004 and RATIFIED on 16 August 2005
Optional Protocol to CRC on involvement of Children in Armed Conflict SIGNED on 15 November 2004 and RATIFIED on 30 November 2005
Amendment to article 43 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1995 NOT SIGNED
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, 1962 NOT SIGNED

Women

Persons with Disabilities

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 SIGNED on 30 March 2007 RATIFIED on 1 October 2007
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the persons with Disabilities, 2006 NOT SIGNED

Discrimination on grounds of caste/religion/ethnicity/language

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), 1965 RATIFIED ON 3 Dec 1968

 

 

 

 

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948 SIGNED on 29 Nov 1949 RATIFIED on 27 Aug 1959
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, 1973 ACCEEDED on 22 Sep 1977
  ACCEEDED on 12 Sep 1990

Refugees and Statelessness

Torture

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984 SIGNED on 14 October, 1997 NOT RATIFIED (despite recommendation in this regard by the CRC Committee in its Concluding Observations in India’s Second Periodic Report, India has not ratified this Convention)
Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2002 NOT SIGNED

Slavery and Trafficking

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
International Agreement for Suppression of White Slave Traffic, 1904 Declared Applicable to India at the time of transfer to the Secretary-General
International Convention for Suppression of White Slave Traffic, 1910 Declared Applicable to India at the time of transfer to the Secretary-General
International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic of the Women and Children, 1921 RATIFIED on 28 June 1922 with reservations on age on Article 5
Slavery Convention, 1926 RATIFIED in 1954
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices of Slavery, 1956 SIGNED on 7 September 1956 RATIFIED on 23 June 1960
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others 1951 SIGNED on 9 May 1950 and RATIFIED on 9 January 1953
Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, 2000 SIGNED on 12 December 2002 RATIFIED on 5 May 2011
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime SIGNED on 12 December 2002 RATIFIED on 5 May 2011

Labour

International Legal Instruments Status of Ratification/Signature/Adoption
ILO Convention No. 29 (Forced Labour, 1930) RATIFIED on 30 November 1954
ILO Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of Rights, 1948) NOT RATIFIED
ILO Convention No. 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949) NOT RATIFIED
ILO Convention No. 100 (Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951) RATIFIED on 25 September 1958
ILO Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957) RATIFIED on 18 May 2000
ILO Convention No. 111 (Discrimination (Employment and Occupation Convention, 1958) RATIFIED on 3 June 1960
ILO Convention No. 138 (Minimum Age Convention, 1973) NOT RATIFIED
ILO Convention No. 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999) NOT RATIFIED
International Convention on Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990 NOT SIGNED

Civil & Political Rights and Economic Cultural & Social Rights

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols

India’s commitment to its children finds strength in the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992.

Subsequently, India also ratified the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography on 16 August 2005 and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict on 30 November 2005.

The country has thus agreed to ensure all rights for all children based on the principles of non-discrimination and the best interest of the child. The CRC revalidates the rights guaranteed to children by the Constitution of India and various laws, policies and programmes emanating there from.

The country has to periodically report to the committee on its efforts and progress in realization of child rights in the country based on which the Committee makes certain concluding observations.

A General Comment is an official statement adopted by the UNCRC that eloborates on the meaning of an aspect of the Convention that seems to require further interpretation or emphasis. The aim of the General Comment is to increase state accountability. To date there are 13 such Comments issued from the year 2001.

Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child