COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF AUSTRIAN REPORT

AFTERNOON HR/CRC/99/4
12 January 1999



The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon continued its examination of the initial report submitted by Austria on its compliance with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Austrian delegation told Committee members, among other things, that the transition to the European common currency - the Euro - would benefit the Austrian child as it would the rest of the population and that Austria would endeavour for the successful implementation of that currency.

Several Committee members raised a series of additional questions on age limits for marriage, best interests of the child, and the status of children born out of wedlock, among others.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 13 January, it will conclude its consideration of Austria’s report.

Discussion

In response to questions raised by Committee members during this morning's meeting, the members of the Austrian delegation said they hoped that the transition to the Euro would contribute to the well-being of Austrian children in the same manner as it would the rest of the population. As part of the European Community, Austria would endeavour for the success of the Euro common currency to bring more happy returns to the Austrian people.

Committee experts also asked the members of the Austrian delegation about numerous issues. One expert recalled that Austrian legislation had fixed the sexual consent of children at the age of 14, and asked if there existed provisions that protected children from being exploited by adults. The expert also noted that despite sexual education provided for children in schools, the number of children born out of wedlock made up 26 per cent of all children. The expert asked if the Government was aware of that phenomenon and wanted to know if there were measures being taken to reduce it.

The same expert expressed concern about reported cases of forced sterilization practices on disabled females, particularly retarded girls. Such actions could contradict the rights under the Convention, said the expert, asking the delegation if there were appropriate actions taken to avert such mal-practices. The expert also wanted to know, within the framework of the best interests of the child, whether administrative and court proceedings took into account the views of the child while deciding on cases involving children.

Some experts said that by fixing the age of marriage for girls at 16 years and for boys at 18 years, Austrian legislation had made a discriminatory distinction between the sexes.

The Austrian delegation said that in the report, translation denoting "children born out of wedlock" was wrongly indicated to be "illegitimate", which had displeased some experts. Nevertheless, Austrian legislation did not intend the use of the latter term and there was no discrimination among children whatever the marital situation of their parents.

With regard to the high number of children born out of wedlock, the delegation said that it was the result of the modern phenomenon of cohabitation between men and women. As in most European countries, men and women in Austria cohabited and had children out of wedlock. Married parents of children had joint custody while custody of a child born out of wedlock was solely incumbent upon the mother, the delegation added. Generally, public youth welfare authorities might offer child-rearing assistance to support parents in the upbringing of their children. Having children out of wedlock was also considered by some youth as a sign of emancipation.

Concerning the best interests of the child, courts or administrative processes took into account the opinion of the child, the delegation said. The country's General Civil Code regulated the interests of the child. Decisions in cases where the child's interest was at risk were made by the court of guardianship in so-called "non-litigious" proceedings. Due to the increase in divorce cases during the last decade, the number of children growing up with only one parent, because of the parents' separation or divorce, had increased steadily, said the delegation.

The Austrian delegation said that the Government had opted to maintain the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys at 16 and 18 respectively because of the psychological impact derived from the principle that girls became "ripe" earlier than boys. The Government had been consulting numerous psychologists on the matter and had set aside the issue for the moment.

The delegation said that any person who felt discriminated against by any Government officials could lodge complaints to a body established for that purpose. In addition, refugee minors were treated legally and allowed to stay in the country. They could also apply for naturalization. Protection against discrimination was guaranteed by the general principle of equality enshrined in the country's Constitution.

Regarding child prostitution, the delegation affirmed that according to Austrian law, child prostitution was prohibited. In addition, the law penalized the production and distribution of child pornography of persons under 14 years of age. The Penal Code imposed criminal penalties not only for commercial child pornography but also for the amateur production and distribution of child pornography.

A question was asked about the status of stateless children to which the delegation said that that category of aliens could acquire Austrian nationality on the basis of an administrative act. The authorities could decide at their discretion. If one parent was an Austrian national, the child could be granted nationality. Further, "illegitimate" children were granted nationality if the mother was an Austrian national at the time of birth, while the place of birth or the father's nationality were not decisive.