United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - concluding observations 2023: SG initial response

9. Optional Protocols

9.1 Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

No: 56a-b

UN Concluding Observation

(a) Consider withdrawing its interpretative declaration on article 1;

(b) Consider raising the minimum age of voluntary recruitment into the armed forces to 18 years;

No: 56c

UN Concluding Observation

(c) Prohibit all forms of advertising and marketing for military service targeted at children, in particular at schools and targeting children belonging to ethnic minority groups and socioeconomically disadvantaged children;

No: 56d-e

UN Concluding Observation

(d) Ensure that safeguards for voluntary recruitment are sufficient, including by ensuring that no child from a separated family is recruited with the consent of only one parent;

(e) Ensure that children currently enlisted in the armed forces do not serve a minimum period that is longer than those who enlisted as adults and that they have the right to leave the armed forces with no notice period;

No: 56f

UN Concluding Observation

(f) Promptly investigate any reports of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of violence against children in the armed forces, particularly during armed forces training, and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and sanctioned;

No: 56g

UN Concluding Observation

(g) Take measures to address the reported heavy mental health burden among child recruits, including incidence of suicide among infantry personnel who enlisted when they were under the age of 18;

No: 56h-i

UN Concluding Observation

(h) Ensure that all children under 18 years of age receive special protection under the Joint Doctrine Publication 1-10 for Captured Persons, including by amending the definition of the child in line with the Convention;

(i) Ensure the early and effective identification of all asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children who may have been recruited or used in armed conflicts abroad upon entering the State party;

Relevant section of Scottish Government’s November 2022 Position Statement

• Section 9.14 – Young People in the Armed Services

Scottish Government Position

Matters of defence are reserved to the UK Parliament. Across all parts of the UK, a young person can join the Armed Forces from the age of 16. In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, parental consent for 16 and 17 year olds is required before they can do so. The Ministry of Defence has strict policies that prevent the involvement in hostilities of UK service personnel under the age of 18. The Scottish Government expects the Ministry of Defence to uphold these policies in full.

Military Visits to Schools

Statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities, as set out under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. As such, it is for schools and local authorities to ensure that involvement of any employer or other partner in the school adds value, meets the needs of learners, and does not seek to exert undue or inappropriate influence.

The Military have strict guidelines about engaging with young people and can only attend careers fairs in schools when invited by a school. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) do not promote military careers in schools. SDS’s online digital platform, My World of Work, includes information regarding roles and careers in the armed forces, but does not actively promote these within schools.

9.2 Ratification of Optional Protocols

No: 57

UN Concluding Observation

The Committee recommends that the State party, in order to further strengthen the fulfilment of children’s rights, accede to the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure.

No: 58

UN Concluding Observation

The Committee recommends that the State party, in order to further strengthen the fulfilment of children’s rights, consider ratifying the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Relevant section of Scottish Government’s November 2022 Position Statement

• Section 3.5 (Optional Protocol 3)

Scottish Government Position

The Optional Protocol 3 (OP3) to the UNCRC provides for a mechanism through which a child, following exhaustion of all relevant local complaints and appeals procedures, can make a complaint about the violation of his or her rights directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The OP3 has not, to date, been signed and ratified by the UK Government. The Scottish Government has welcomed the OP3 in principle and confirmed that Scottish Ministers would be minded to offer measured support for its signature and ratification in the future.

The UK Government, as the State Party, has neither signed nor ratified the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, or the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Scottish Ministers continue to press the UK Government for ratification of both of these Conventions.

9.3 Cooperation with Regional Bodies

No: 59

UN Concluding Observations

The Committee recommends that the State party continue to cooperate with the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Convention and other human rights instruments, both in the State party and in other States members of the Council.

Relevant section of Scottish Government’s November 2022 Position Statement

• NA

Scottish Government Position

The Scottish Government actively supports and participates in UK engagement with all signed and ratified international human rights monitoring mechanisms of the UN and Council of Europe (CoE). We also welcome both formal and informal visits and examinations by scrutiny bodies of both the UN and CoE. Scottish Government Ministers and officials work closely with Whitehall counterparts, and with the Welsh Government and, in so far as possible, the Northern Ireland Executive, to ensure that formal reporting processes (undertaken on behalf of the UK as the State Party) properly reflect devolved policies and interests.